Friday 24th September 2004

Parking enforcement needs overhaul: thinktank

It's about revenue not congestion, say drivers

---

Parking enforcement in most of the UK’s major towns and cities needs a complete change in policy, says the RAC Foundation. Most motorists now believe it is about generating revenue rather than keeping streets clear of illegally parked vehicles. This week the Foundation is urging local authorities to develop fairer regimes that keep roads free flowing without alienating residents, visitors and businesses.

That new strategy should include:

• An upfront statement by local authorities - making the details of contracts with enforcement agencies clear to voters. Are parking attendants there to deter poor parking and encourage clear streets or to make money to fund other projects?
• Enforcement concentrating on prevention rather than detection and penalties. Advice, warning and ultimately tickets should be used to encourage compliance.
• Advice rather than ticketing for minor irregularities like incorrect display of "pay and display" permits or overhanging bay markings.
• A review of sanctions. Should penalties be the same for parking on a yellow line as overstaying by a short time the allowance on a meter or pay and display bay? At the moment both can be subject to clamping or removal.
• Adopting "best practice" from around the country. Manchester has changed its enforcement policy considerably to incorporate reasonableness as a cornerstone while Westminster and Edinburgh have introduced the use of cameras by parking attendants to resolve conflicting accounts on the street. Westminster actively discourages the issue of tickets that are likely to be disputed.
• Parking attendants and administrative staff rigorously trained in customer relations techniques.
• Clear ring fencing of the revenues raised from parking fines and transparency in the allocation of funding to schemes benefiting road users.
• The adoption of the British Parking Association’s "standard contract" (currently at consultation stage). This introduces consistency and logic and will help local authorities and contractors in future negotiations. 

Speaking at a Parkex conference in Manchester* to an audience of parking professionals, Kevin Delaney, Head of Traffic and Road Safety at the RAC Foundation said, "The public has a poor perception of parking enforcement. This is reinforced when drivers see congested streets lined with illegally or badly parked cars all displaying parking tickets.

"This situation is neither inevitable nor irreversible. It is possible to strike a balance between prevention, often seen by local authorities as time consuming and unprofitable - and persecution, efficient and profitable but confrontational. The Foundation argues that a badly administered parking enforcement policy has detrimental effects for all concerned – motorists become angry, frustrated and disillusioned with the local authority and contractor, councils may have their credibility and popularity damaged and parking attendants may become the target of abuse, attack and dislike.

"Uncontrolled parking leads to congestion, contributes to pollution and can impinge on road safety – ultimately society suffers. Parking enforcement should be a service which improves the quality of life and public perception of local authority activities, not a battle between drivers and policy makers."

 

[Sgt^Roc]

Another thinktank taking credit for what should have been a logical conclusion, that if you disregard the fact it should not have got into this mess anyhow. Some how you think with this increasingly "starlanist Labour government" this is just another smoke screen?

[Flat in Fifth]

The reason it needs sorting is because all over the country you have stupidity like this in Bromsgrove.

http://tinyurl.com/68lho