portsmouth annual_report_ 2009/10

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Portsmouth City Council Parking Section

Annual Report2009/10


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Foreword from Traffic and Transportation Executive

Welcome to Portsmouth City Councils annual parking report for the year2009/2010.

The issue of parking in Portsmouth is an often contentious one. Along withparking management and staff, I am committed to making sure thatwhatever is done in the field of parking in Portsmouth is done with the bestinterests of the community at heart.

As with most council services, we need to take into account the needs ofresidents, as well as those of the visitors and the businesses that keepPortsmouth alive and well. It is a juggling act for me as the responsible

cabinet member and the officers in the service. This report will hopefullyhelp you to see how we achieve this, and how in the main we aresuccessful.

The parking operations team does many things besides issuing penaltycharge notices, and I invite you to read more about them in the report. Butdue to the very nature of parking and its enforcement remit, many of usmay well fall foul of its powers from time to time and receive a penalty. Ifyou do, try to remember that the staff that issued it are human and deserve

respect just as much as everybody else. I do understand the frustration ofgetting a penalty, but you can appeal, and enforcement officers cannotcancel penalties once issued, so venting your frustrations at them cannotachieve anything.

On the subject of penalties, I would like to dispel one myth. Our parkingofficers are not on a bonus system, and all income goes into the councilsbudget, to provide services for city residents. The service, like others in thecouncil, has challenging times ahead as we deal with a greatly reduced

budget while still meeting the needs of our residents.

I hope you find the report interesting and informative. Please feel free tocontact me or the parking operations manager, Michael Robinson, if youwould like more information or have any questions. You will find our contactdetails at the back of this report.

Councillor Jason FazackarleyCabinet Member for Traffic and TransportationPortsmouth City Council.


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CUSTOMER SERVICE

The parking office continues to open on a Saturday morning between 9am and 1pm toassist customers who work Monday to Fridays. This is in addition to the Monday toFriday usual office opening hours of 08.30 to 17.00 except for Wednesday whenopening is delayed by 1 hour for staff training.

Over the past year, 37,849 visitors came to the parking office, which equates to anaverage of 727 visitors per week. The main reasons for visiting the office is to obtainresidents parking permits, purchase visitor scratchcards, apply for/collect Blue Badges,and pay or appeal Penalty Charge Notices.

TECHNICAL

The technical team comprises of 9 staff as follows:1 Supervisor5 Technicians1 Signage Technician1 General Maintenance1 Temporary General Maintenance (part of the Future Jobs Fund)

The technical team is responsible for the installation, programming and generalmaintenance of the 238 on street, 54 off street pay and display machines and the payon foot system within the multi-storey car park.

The changeover to solar powered machines is on-going and currently 38% have beenconverted.

There are now 40 machines which are credit/debit card enabled and more to come forthe future.

A purchase of a Gerber Edge FX printer and a vinyl cutter from Spandex has allowed 3of the technicians to be able to produce signs and labels, not only for ourselves, butother departments within Portsmouth City Council and our external customers.

The improvement of the lighting and reduction of CO2 emissions in the multi-storey carpark and other surface car parks are on-going as new technologies develop.

RESIDENTS PARKING

During the past year, the following additions and changes to residents parking schemestook place:-

A new scheme in the Baffins area started in June 2009


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The East Cosham scheme expanded by including seven additional roads inAugust 2009

Windsor Road, Cosham became a 24hr, 7days a week scheme instead ofMonday to Saturday 6am-6pm from December 2009

Portsmouth Road, Cosham reduced its free period of parking from 2hrs to 1hr inDecember 2009

In December 2009 an alternative method for purchasing visitor scratchcards wasintroduced in the Old Portsmouth zone. This allows the resident in the zone to registera telephone number that they can use to purchase visitors parking for the same periodsas the visitor scratchcards are available. Between December 2009 and March 2010, atotal of 86 visitor parking sessions were booked using this method and it is hoped thatthis number will continue to grow. The scheme operates through RingGo who also runthe payment for parking by mobile phone alternative in all on and off street pay and

display locations operated by the City Council.

It is planned to expand the scheme to other residents parking zones and in particularthe Fratton scheme in the next financial year.

Detailed below are the number of permits issued in the financial year, along with incomefrom the sale of permits and visitor scratchcards in all 28 residents parking schemes:-

10,924 residents parking permits were issued

930 business parking permits were issued

160,000 was received from the sale of residents & business parking permits,including those that were reissued due to change of vehicle

176,000 was received from the sale of visitor scratchcards in all residentsparking schemes

Visitor parking scratchcards are also available from a number of additional outletsbased in residents parking schemes such as Libraries, Sub Post-Offices and CityCouncil Housing offices, which ensures the residents can quickly and easily obtain theirvisitor scratchcards.

DISABLED BADGES & BAYS

Blue Badges are valid for a period of 3 years and during the past year a total of 3,621Blue Badges were issued, bringing the overall total of valid blue badges issued by theCity Council to just fewer than 10,000. Just over 1,500 of those issued last year wereautomatically eligible for a badge and did not need a GP referral.

Department for Transport guidance recommends an independent medical assessment

is undertaken, rather than the applicants GP providing the information to assesswhether an individual is eligible for a Blue Badge. As a result a report was taken to the


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City Councils Cabinet Meeting in March 2010 which agreed an independentassessment is adopted and it is hoped this will be in place sometime in the nextfinancial year.

At the end of March 2010, there were a total of 1,742 residential disabled bays in placeacross the City, with 305 bays being installed in the past year. A total of 511applications forms were sent out with 326 forms returned, only 21 applications wereunsuccessful.

We removed 193 disabled bays, which were no longer required and 68 bays wererepainted. Two Traffic Regulation Orders were made which resulted in 309 disabledparking bays being upgraded to enforceable bays.

As an alternative to leaving the individuals blue badge in their vehicle all the time it isparked in an enforceable residential disabled bay, we offer an alternative permit,specific to a residents vehicle and during the past year 752 of these were

issued/renewed.

PARKING INVESTIGATIONS

The Parking Investigations Officer received 155 reports of mis-use of Blue Badges. Allthe reports have been investigated with 94 of these badges being withdrawn. Thereasons for withdrawal being 6 deceased, 27 expired, 27 low level mis-use, 29organisational reviews and 6 counterfeit.

The remaining 44 reports had no further action taken being incorrect reporting orneighbour disputes.

Where mis-use has been regarded as low level, e.g. parked in contravention, 31 formalwarnings were issued with details being recorded on the Si-Dem Disabled Badgemodule.

5 cases are with PCC Legal Services for consideration with one further being compiled.11 cases are currently open, pending investigation.

REMOVAL AND DISPOSAL OF VEHICLES

ABANDONED VEHICLES- Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978

There were 1,494 reports of abandoned vehicles resulting in 1,402 of these beingassessed as not abandoned or not at location.

92 of these vehicles were removed resulting in 13 being returned to registered thekeeper and the remaining 78 being scrapped in accordance with the Refuse Disposal(Amenity) Act 1978


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This service cost 44,147 for the year and resulted in revenue from sale of parts, scrapand auction a sum of 14,278.

Month Reports RemovedGone or

TaxedBurnt Out Wrecked

Private

Landowner

April 139 11 128 0 3 0

May 144 9 135 0 0 0

June 124 4 120 0 0 0

July 121 9 112 1 1 1

August 121 11 110 2 2 2

September 119 6 113 3 0 1

October 114 8 106 2 0 2

November 128 5 123 1 1 0

December 98 6 92 0 2 1

January 110 9 101 3 0 0

February 122 6 116 0 0 1

March 154 8 146 1 1 0

TOTALS 1494 92 1402 13 10 8

ABANDONED VEHICLES REPORT

01/04/2009 - 31/03/2010

2006-2007 Removed 2007-2008 Removed 2008-2009 Removed 2009-2010 Removed

April 50 April 30 April 26 April 11

May 35 May 33 May 19 May 9

June 44 June 32 June 18 June 4

July 35 July 16 July 9 July 9

August 42 August 27 August 12 August 11

September 37 September 30 September 18 September 6

October 51 October 24 October 15 October 8

November 60 November 25 November 13 November 5

December 26 December 21 December 12 December 6

January 43 January 21 January 8 January 9

February 31 February 16 February 7 February 6

March 39 March 14 March 6 March 8

TOTALS 493 TOTALS 289 TOTALS 163 TOTALS 92

ABANDONED VEHICLES DATA STREAM01/04/2006 - 31/03/2010


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Abandoned Vehicles by Data Stream

Month ReportsVisited within

24 hoursRemoved

Removed

within 24

hours

April 139 134 11 9

May 146 138 9 8

June 124 118 4 4

July 121 102 9 9

August 121 117 11 11

September 119 116 6 6

October 114 109 8 8November 128 123 5 3

December 98 91 6 5

January 110 102 9 8

February 122 118 6 6

March 154 150 8 7

TOTALS 1496 1418 92 84

BEST VALUE INDICATORS01/04/2009 - 31/03/2010


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BV218a

Cumulative Target = 87.00%

April May June July August September96.40% 95.44% 95.35% 92.83% 92.83% 93.55%

October November December January February March

94.34% 94.57% 94.41% 94.26% 94.49% 94.79%

Percentage of new reports of abandoned vehicles investigated

withing 24 hours of notification.

BV218b

Cumulative Target = 90.00%

April May June July August September

81.82% 85.00% 87.50% 90.91% 93.18% 94.00%

October November December January February March

94.83% 92.06% 91.30% 91.03% 91.67% 91.30%

Percentage of abandoned vehicles removed within 24 hours

from the point at which the Authority is legally entitled to

remove the vehicle.

UNTAXED VEHICLES

DVLA Devolved Powers The Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal andDisposal Of Vehicles) Regulation 1997

Resulting from the abandoned vehicle reports 248 of these were removed for no validtax resulting in 95 being returned to the registered keepers and 144 being scrapped as

the registered keepers were not found or the vehicle was assigned to PCC on behalf ofthe DVLA. (It must be noted that all reports are initially investigated as abandonedvehicles).

This service cost 56,860 for the year and resulted in a revenue from sale of parts,scrap and auction a sum of 26,640.


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Month Removed Returns Scrapped StorageApril 34 7 27 0

May 20 8 12 0

June 17 7 10 0

July 20 10 10 0

August 20 7 13 0

September 21 7 14 0

October 18 6 12 0

November 19 10 9 0

December 10 4 6 0

January 18 10 8 0

February 20 5 15 0

March 31 14 8 9

TOTALS 248 95 144 9

REMOVAL OF UNTAXED VEHICLES01/04/2009 - 31/03/2010

2006-2007 Removed 2007-2008 Removed 2008-2009 Removed 2009-2010 Removed

April 21 April 15 April 25 April 34

May 29 May 13 May 31 May 20

June 24 June 27 June 13 June 17

July 20 July 11 July 23 July 19

August 19 August 22 August 16 August 20

September 0 September 21 September 25 September 21

October 0 October 19 October 56 October 18

November 0 November 3 November 26 November 20December 0 December 13 December 56 December 10

January 17 January 25 January 47 January 18

February 18 February 32 February 34 February 20

March 20 March 20 March 39 March 31

TOTALS 168 TOTALS 221 TOTALS 391 TOTALS 248

DVLA REMOVALS DATA STREAM01/04/2006 - 31/03/2010


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ENFORCEMENT

Priorities

1. Road safety. This has an emphasis on the most vulnerable members of our

community. Children outside schools, disabled people accessing public transport forexample.

2. Traffic Flow. This is to reduce and prevent congestion. One poorly parked vehicle cancause significant delays to cars, cyclists and public transport.

3. Revenue protection. The councils pay and display income makes an importantcontribution to the councils budget. That income has to be protected by strictenforcement of pay and display areas.

4. Residents Parking. Enforcement ensures that Resident Parking Zones work

effectively to make residents and their visitors adhere to strict rules and thus precludingothers such as commuters using residential parking provision.

The enforcement team comprises of 52 staff as follows:

3 Supervisors3 Senior CEOs4 Traffic Management Centre41 CEOs (2 on secondment)1 Vehicle Removal Officer1 Parking Investigations Officer

PARKING SUSPENSIONS

There were 169 requests for suspensions on pay and display or residents controlledzones covering 1,912 days. These suspensions ranged from 1 day skip placement to 62days for highways related maintenance.

This service cost 6,475 for the year and resulted in a revenue of 12,548.

It must be noted that charges were for signage manufacture, placement and inspectionnot for lost income.

PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES

In the financial year 2009/10, 44,020 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued,which was an increase of just under 500 from the previous year, which suggestsenforcement is continuing at a similar level. Note should be made that for 10 daysduring January 2010 no enforcement took place due to the heavy snowfall and slow

subsequent thaw.


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With regard to recovery figures, to date 32,694, which equates to 74.27% of the PCNsissued in the past financial year, have been paid and recovery is still ongoing onoutstanding charges. This equates to 1,187,522.70 and includes some part paidcases which are being paid on instalment plans.

Of these 44,020 PCNs, the breakdown between higher and lower rate contraventions isas follows:-

Higher Rate Contraventions 09/10

Number Issued Recovery Average recovery per PCN19,905 649,441.44 32.63

Lower Rate Contraventions 09/10

Number Issued Recovery Average recovery per PCN24,115 538,081.26 22.31

The above recovery figures are comparable to last year and should increase slightly as11.36% of cases are still open and ongoing.

PCN BREAKDOWN BY CONTRAVENTION

HIGHER RATE PCNS ON-STREET

CODE CONTRAVENTION DESCRIPTION NUMBERISSUED

01 Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours 1341202 Parked or loading/unloading in a restricted street

where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are

in force

1088

12 Parked in a residents or shared use parking placewithout clearly displaying either a permit or voucher orpay and display ticket issued for that place

116

16 Parked in a permit space without displaying a validpermit

162

21 Parked in a suspended bay or space or part of bay orspace

1002

23 Parked in a parking place or area not designed forthat class of vehicle

34

25 Parked in a loading place during restricted hourswithout loading

426

26 Parked in a special enforcement area more than 79


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50cm or other specified distance from the edge of thecarriageway and not within a designated parkingplace

27 Parked adjacent to a dropped footway 63940 Parked in a designated disabled persons parking

place without clearly displaying a valid disabledpersons badge

892

42 Parked in a parking place designed for police vehicles 545 Parked on a taxi rank 66846 Stopped where prohibited (on a red route or

clearway)2

47 Stopped on a restricted bus stop or stand 63448 Stopped in a restricted area outside a school 15955 A commercial vehicle parked in a restricted street in

contravention of the overnight waiting ban6

99 Stopped on a pedestrian crossing or crossing area

marked by zig-zags

67

TOTAL 19391

HIGHER RATE PCNS OFF-STREET


74 Using a vehicle in a parking place in connection withthe sale or offering or exposing for sale of goodswhen prohibited

2

81 Parked in a restricted area in a car park 685 Parked in a permit bay without clearly displaying a

valid permit426

87 Parked in a designated disabled persons parkingspace without displaying a valid disabled personsbadge

38

89 Vehicle parked exceeds maximum weight or height orlength permitted in the area 1

91 Parked in a car park or area not designated for thatclass of vehicle

41

TOTAL 514


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LOWER RATE PCNS ON-STREET


05 Parked after the expiry of paid for time 139706 Parked without clearly displaying a valid pay & display

ticket or voucher3655

22 Re-parked in the same parking place or zone withinone hour or other specified time of leaving

617

24 Not parked correctly within the markings of the bay orspace

76

30 Parked for longer than permitted 12119TOTAL 17864

LOWER RATE PCNS OFF-STREET


82 Parked after the expiry of paid for time 218783 Parked in a car park without clearly displaying a valid

pay and display ticket or voucher or parking clock3740

86 Parked beyond the bay markings 31995 Parked in a parking place for a purpose other than

the designated purpose for the parking place5

TOTAL 6251

PCN BY FINANCIAL YEAR 2005-2010

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

2500030000

35000

40000

45000

50000

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

TOTAL NUMBER ISSUED

TOTAL PAID

TOTAL CANCELLED ON

APPEAL


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Comparison figures against previous years performance are detailed below:-

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

TOTAL NUMBER ISSUED 43422 35982 37372 43534 44020

TOTAL PAID 31415 27107 28545 33649 32694

TOTAL CANCELLED ON APPEAL 4239 3179 3313 4039 4453

TOTAL PAID AS % 72.35 75.33 76.38 77.29 74.27

TOTAL CANCELLED ON APPEAL AS % 9.76 8.83 8.86 9.28 10.12

APPEALS

During the year 7,680 informal challenges and 1,749 formal representations werereceived. Of these 4,453 cases were cancelled on appeal, which as a percentageagainst total PCNs issued is 10.12%, which is a slight increase on last yearscancellation figures. A total of 119 cases were taken to the independent adjudicationservice, Traffic Penalty Tribunal, during the year and the results are as follows:-

Appeals dismissed - 73Appeals allowed - 41Awaiting decision - 5

The number of cases as a percentage going to independent adjudication was 0.27%,which shows an increase of 0.09% but still remains at a low level of appeal.

The positive performance figures suggest good quality Penalty Charge Notices, alongwith prompt and careful consideration of appeals.


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FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

OFF STREET PARKING

BUDGET HEADING

Total Budget

2009/10

Actual to

March 2010Variance

EXPENDITURE

Employees 425,589 436,323 -10,734

Premises 279,900 433,300 -153,400

Transport 19,050 13,055 5,995Supplies and Services 154,034 139,746 14,288

Agency and Third Party Payments 84,895 87,557 -2,662

Transfer Payments 3,201 14,736 -11,535

Recharges 0 265 -265

INCOME

Reimbursements 0 -614 614

Fees and Charges -2,015,000 -1,845,088 -169,912

Season Tickets -445,500 -447,182 1,682

PCN Income -321,000 -281,132 -39,868

Miscellaneous Income -9,500 -4,515 -4,985

Recovered Rechargeable Costs -201,000 -222,462 21,462

Totals -2,025,331 -1,676,011 -349,320


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ON STREET PARKING

BUDGET HEADINGTotal Budget

2009/10

Actual to

March2010

Variance

EXPENDITURE

Employees 1,837,503 1,830,807 -6,696

Premises 124,512 119,166 -5,346

Transport 60,470 51,982 -8,488

Supplies and Services 559,543 517,237 -42,306Agency and Third Party Payments 44,450 40,785 -3,665

Transfer Payments 550,000 0 -550,000

Departmental Recharges 40,667 41,201 534

INCOME

Reimbursements 0 -727 -727

Sales 0 -8,128 -8,128

Fees and Charges -1,706,000 -1,854,340 -148,340Season Tickets -340,000 -397,943 -57,943

PCN Income -1,140,000 -1,284,484 -144,484

Miscellaneous Income -114,500 -137,706 -23,206

Recovered Rechargeable Costs -19,000 -32,440 -13,440

Total -102,355 -1,114,590 -1,012,235


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ABANDONED VEHICLES

BUDGET HEADING

Total

Budget2009/10

Actual toMarch 2010

Variance

EXPENDITURE

Employees 54,907 25,949 28,958

Premises 7,500 7,602 -102

Transport 4,010 3,432 578

Supplies and Services 2,740 3,125 -385

Agency and Third Party Payments 11,730 4,339 7,391

INCOME

Reimbursements 0 -125 125

Fees and Charges 0 -2,183 2,183

Sale of Vehicles (Scrap/Auction) -11,150 -1,377 -9,773

PCN Income -9,060 -1,859 -7,201Recovered Rechargeable Costs -11,100 -8,734 -2,366

Totals 49,577 30,169 19,408


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UNLICENSED VEHICLES

BUDGET HEADING

TotalBudget2009/10

Actual toMarch 2010

Variance

EXPENDITURE

Employees 35,285 35,285 0

Premises 7,595 7,595 0

Supplies and Services 1,270 1,270 0

Agency and Third Party Payments 12,710 12,710 0

INCOME

Reimbursements -712 -712 0Sale of Vehicles (Scrap/Auction) -7,846 -7,846 0

Fees and Charges (Storage, etc) -15,480 -15,480 0

Miscellaneous Income -2,602 -2,602 0

Totals 30,220 30,220 0


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BLUE BADGES ANDDISABLED BAYS

BUDGET HEADING

Total Budget2009/10

Actual toMarch 2010

Variance

EXPENDITURE

Employees 31,515 31,515 0

Premises 30,532 30,532 0

Transport 44 44 0

Supplies and Services 12,042 12,042 0

Agency and Third Party Payments 239 239 0

Transfer Payments 0 0 0

INCOME

Fees and Charges -302 -302 0

Permits -1,994 -1,994 0

Totals 72076 72076 0


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OFF STREET PARKING RESERVE AS AT 31/03/2010

2009/10 Opening Reserve Balance (1,661,234)

1 2009/10 On Street Parking Net Operating Surplus (1,017,728)

2009/10 Calls on Reserve

2 Update of parking meters Chip & Pin 40,156

3 Appropriation from Parking Reserve into Highways PFI

Reserve

200,000

4 Contribution to Transport for South Hampshire 100,000

5 Transfer to General Fund to offset shortfall in Off Street

parking income and other overspends

418,474

6 Transfer to General Fund (On-Street Parking Savings) 117,900

2009/10 Closing Reserve Balance (1,802,432)

Net Increase of 141,198

1 This is the operating surplus from the On Street ParkingOperation

2 This is expenditure relating to the ongoing upgrade of

parking meters to chip and pin technology. This is part of a

planned ongoing programme

3 This is a contribution for the ongoing costs of the Highways

maintenance contract.

4 This is a PCC contribution towards the Transport for South

Hampshire model of working. This is a collaborativeapproach to developing a sub regional transport strategy

5 The cash limit for the T&T portfolio was overspent as a result

of shortfall of parking income and other service overspends.

It was approved to fund this overspend from the Off Street

Parking reserve.

6 As part of the annual budget savings exercise, savings have

been put forward that are generated from the On Street

Parking operation. This sum of money reflects the savings

that have been accepted.


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CONTACT DETAILS

Contact Tel. No. E-Mail

Parking 023 9268 8310 [email protected]

Parking Forum n/a [email protected]

Abandoned Vehicles 023 9268 8284 [email protected]

Unlicensed Vehicles 023 9268 8284 [email protected]

Blue Badges Team 023 9268 8710 [email protected]

Disabled Bays 023 9268 8304 [email protected]

Blue Badge Fraud 023 9268 8310 [email protected]

Traffic Management 023 9268 8289/90 [email protected]

Michael RobinsonTeam Manager,Parking Operations [email protected]

Cllr Fazackarley(T & T Executive) [email protected]

If you would like to comment on this report or any aspect of parking please e-mail theParking Forum - [email protected]

Your comments will be placed on the public Parking Forum.

If you wish to keep your comments confidential please e-mail to Parking -

[email protected]

portsmouth annual_report_ 2009/10

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