sevenoaks annual parking report 200910

8/8/2019 Sevenoaks Annual Parking Report 200910

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Sevenoaks District Council

ANNUAL PARKING REPORT

2009 2010

Kristen Paterson

Community and Planning Services Director


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Sevenoaks District Council Annual Parking Report 2009/10

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Annual Report

3. Parking Facilities

4. Parking Enforcement Service

5. Penalty Charge Notices

6. Statistics

7. Financial

8. Future Initiatives

Appendix A The Parking Penalty Enforcement Process

Appendix B Examples of Higher and Lower Contraventions

Appendix C Penalty Charge Notices Issued 2009/10

Appendix D Breakdown of Contraventions for PCNs Issued

Appendix E Breakdown of PCNs Issued by Area

Appendix F Income and Expenditure


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1.0 Introduction

1.1 The District Council has operated a joint parking enforcement service in

relation to car parks and on-street parking restrictions since January 2000.

The on-street enforcement is undertaken on behalf of Kent County Council,

the highway authority, with the function delegated by way of an AgencyAgreement.

1.2 Up to 2008, parking enforcement was known as Decriminalised Parking and

operated under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1991. However, on 31

March 2008 the legal framework for enforcement authorities transferred to the

Traffic Management Act 2004 with the introduction of Part 6 of the Act. This

gave authorities outside London many of the powers already available to

authorities in London, giving greater consistency across the country. The

main effects were:-

Decriminalised Parking became Civil Parking Enforcement;

Parking Attendants became Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs);

two levels of Penalty Charge relating to the severity of contravention were

introduced;

Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) could be issued by post to deal with

vehicle drive-aways and threatening behaviour;

new contraventions in connection with double parking and parking across

dropped kerbs were introduced;

independent adjudicators were given increased powers to refer PCN

appeals back to Local Authorities for further consideration.

1.3 In Kent, the change also necessitated PCNs to have separate identifiers to

differentiate between those PCNs issued on-street on behalf of Kent County

Council and those issued by this Council in its off-street car parks. The

identifier is issued by the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County

Court and takes the form of two letters at the beginning of each PCN number,

intended to represent the enforcing authority. Where previously, all our PCNs

were identified by SV (to represent Sevenoaks), PCNs issued on-street were

changed to begin KS (to represent Kent Sevenoaks). The change applied to

all authorities in the County who were similarly issued with new identfiers for

on-street enforcement.

2.0 Annual Report

2.1 Civil Parking Enforcement was introduced with the aim of keeping traffic

moving, making parking enforcement fairer and more transparent, and

providing motorists with a consistent service across the country. As part of

this, a requirement to produce an annual report falls to the traffic authority,


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3.6 Residents who are having building work carried out may apply for a parking

waiver for their contractor to park in restricted areas. A waivers allows parking

in bays and on single yellow lines but may not cover other types of restriction.

3.7 In certain streets in the vicinity of Sevenoaks town centre and Sevenoaks

station, non-resident permits are available to facilitate parking in connectionwith business/commuter use where the road capacity allows.

4.0 Parking Enforcement Service

4.1 The Council operates a team of 9 Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) and 1

Civil Enforcement Supervisor. Patrols are undertaken throughout the District

over a six day week Monday to Saturday, with Sunday and Bank Holiday

enforcement undertaken from time-to-time as required. Staggered working

hours provide for enforcement throughout the working day and evening.

Enforcement at other times are dealt with on an ad-hoc basis.

4.2 Our CEOs enforce the Councils car parks and on-street all yellow line

restrictions, parking bays including limited waiting bays and designated bays

for disabled blue badge holders, taxis and police vehicles, bus stops and

pedestrian crossing zig-zag markings throughout the district.

4.3 As might be expected, the majority of waiting and parking restrictions are

located in the main centres of Sevenoaks, Swanley, Edenbridge and

Westerham, where parking enforcement is concentrated, although the more

rural areas are regularly enforced in conjunction with these.

4.4 Enforcement of the two new contraventions of double parking and parking

across dropped kerbs, brought in with the change to the Traffic Management

Act 2004, was delayed while issues in respect to the legislation were clarified.

We are currently liaising with Kent County Council concerning authorisation to

commence enforcement of these contraventions, as required under the terms

of the Agency Agreement.

4.5 We do not directly undertake clamping or vehicle removal as part of our

enforcement process. The Secretary of State for Transport recommends that

this only be considered to deal with persistent evaders where it has not been

possible collect payment, primarily because the keeper is not registered with

the DVLA. Should we wish to commence this, prior authorisation would be

required from the County Council. However, these functions can be, and are,

undertaken by the Councils appointed Bailiffs as part of the debt recovery

process for unpaid penalty charges.

4.6 All CEOs receive appropriate training to nationally accepted standards before

they are permitted to commence parking enforcement duties. Likewise,


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administration staff receive training in dealing with parking appeals and the

parking enforcement process.

4.7 Our CEOs do not have targets for the number of PCNs to be issued and they

do not work to bonuses. Each parking contravention is considered on its own

merits.

5.0 Penalty Charge Notices

5.1 Civil Parking Enforcement is a legal process. Once a Penalty Charge Notice

(PCN) is issued and if not paid within 28 days, there is a set procedure which

all local authorities must follow in progressing the unpaid PCN through to

recovery of the debt. The procedure is, perhaps, best outlined in a leaflet

produced by the Joint Committee of England and Wales for the civil

enforcement of Parking And Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL).

PATROL provides information about parking regulations and enforcement on

behalf of councils that enforce parking regulations outside London Pleaserefer to Appendix A.

5.2 Anyone issued with a PCN has two opportunities to appeal to the Council.

Informally, if within 28 days of issue, and then formally following receipt of our

next Notice, the Notice to Owner, which is sent to the registered keeper of the

vehicle if the PCN remains unpaid. For appeals received within the 14 day

period for payment at the discounted rate (50%), if the appeal is unsuccessful,

a further 14 day period for payment at the discounted rate is given. Following

unsuccessful appeals to the Council, there is provision to appeal to the

independent adjudication service, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, whos decision

is then binding upon both parties. The process is outlined in a documentproduced by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which has been reproduced in

Appendix A.

5.3 To Facilitate contact by the public, people are able to pay or appeal their PCN

online at the Councils website, where photographic evidence recorded by the

CEO at the time the PCN was issued can be viewed.

5.4 With the aim of providing clarity, consistency and transparency in parking

enforcement across the County, Kent local authorities and Medway Council

have collectively produced a set of guidance policies for the enforcement and

cancellation of PCNs. These form the basis of our approach to parkingappeals and take account of advice received from bodies such as the

adjudication service. The guidance has been acknowledged by the

Adjudication Service as being a good example of best practice. The document

is available on the Councils website www.sevenoaks.gov.uk by following

Transport and Streets / Parking Enforcement / Paying Parking Fines /

Cancellation Policy.
http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/


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5.5 The Traffic Management Act brought in two levels of penalty charge (i.e. the

PCN amount) to provide a higher charge for more serious contraventions,

such as parking on double yellow lines, and a lower charge for less serious

contraventions, such as overstaying time in a limited waiting bay. In

Sevenoaks and across Kent, the higher level penalty charge is set at 70 and

the lower level charge at 50. For information, a list of typical higher andlower contraventions is attached as Appendix B.

6.0 Statistics

6.1 In the financial year 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010, 11,251 PCNs were

issued.

6.2 A breakdown of this figure showing the numbers issued on-street and in car

parks, for higher and lower contraventions, numbers appealed, paid and

cancelled, etc., is attached as Appendix C.

6.3 A breakdown of the contraventions for which PCNs were issued is attached as

Appendix D.

6.4 A geographical breakdown of PCNs issued by parish is also provided,

attached as Appendix E.

6.5 In 2009/10 the equivalent of 94 resident and 415 non-resident (i.e.

business/commuter) annual season tickets were issued for the car parks and

the equivalent of 630 resident and 212 non-resident annual permits were

issued on-street.

7.0 Financial

7.1 The provisional income and expenditure figures for the On-street and Car

Parks accounts are shown in Appendix F. These figures are provisional and

are subject to ratification by the Councils Auditors.

7.2 The expenditure shown for on-street parking excludes an allocation of 89,523

for support services costs.

7.3 The on-street parking account shows a net income of 158,212 for the year

against a budget figure of 227,619. For 2008/09 there was a net expenditure

of 23,044 (which excludes support service costs of 89,211) against abudgeted net income of 10,062.

7.4 In 2009/10, the on-street account has benefited from increased income from

pay and display parking and permit sales.


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7.5 The car parks account shows a net income of 1,323,546 against a budgeted

net income of 1,392,878. For 2008/09, there was a net income of 1,280,510

against a budgeted net income of 1,334,150.

8.0 Future Initiatives

8.1 Mobile Phone Payments

Currently, people can only pay for parking in the car parks and on-street by

putting the appropriate amount of coinage in a ticket machine to obtain a

ticket. We are aware that in some cases this can involve a large number of

coins. In order to provide a more flexible payment facility, we are investigating

the implications of introducing an optional payment system using mobile

phones, which would work alongside the ticket machines. Such schemes are

rapidly gaining popularity with the public and can offer benefits to both the

customer and the parking provider. This is being undertaken in conjunction

with a number of other local authorities in Kent.

8.2 Safer Parking Scheme

This is an initiative by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) which

has been running for a number of years. The scheme is managed by the

British Parking Association (BPA) and any car park operator can take part.

The purpose of the scheme is to reduce crime and the fear of crime, provide

guidance to owners and operators, and raise awareness of the general public.

8.3 A Park Mark Safer Parking Award is presented for car parks adjudged to meet

certain criteria in respect to crime risk. The Council has joined the scheme

and is currently assessing the suitability of our car parks for submission in

respect to meeting the criteria.


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Any queries or requests for further information should be directed to:

The Parking Manager

The Parking and Amenity Team

Community and Planning Services

Sevenoaks District Council

P O Box 183

Argyle Road

Sevenoaks

Kent TN13 1GN

Email: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]


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THE PARKING PENALTY ENFORCEMENT PROCESS APPENDIX

12 (continued on next page


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THE PARKING PENALTY ENFORCEMENT PROCESS APPENDIX

(continued from previous page) 13


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APPENDIX B

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EXAMPLES OF HIGHER LEVEL CONTRAVENTIONS

Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours

Parked in a designated disabled persons parking place without clearly displayinga valid disabled persons badge

Parked or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting andloading/unloading restrictions are in force

Parked in a residents' or shared use parking place without clearly displayingeither a permit or voucher or pay and display ticket issued for that place

Parked in a permit space without displaying a valid permit

Parked in a parking place or area not designated for that class of vehicle

Parked in a loading place during restricted hours without loading

Vehicle parked more than 50 cm. from the edge of the carriageway and not within

a designated parking place

Parked adjacent to a dropped footway

Parked in a parking place designated for police vehicles

Parked on a taxi rank

Stopped on a restricted bus stop/stand

Stopped in a restricted area outside a school

Parked in a permit bay without clearly displaying a valid permit

EXAMPLES OF LOWER LEVEL CONTRAVENTIONS

Parked without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket

Parked after the expiry of paid for time

Parked without payment of the parking charge

Parked in a resident parking space without clearly displaying a valid residentsparking permit

Parked in a residents' or shared use parking place displaying an invalid permit,an invalid voucher or an invalid pay & display ticket

Not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space

Parked for longer than permitted

Parked without payment of the parking charge Parked for longer than the maximum period permitted


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APPENDIX C

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PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES ISSUED 2009/10

Please note:

The percentages shown for items 1) and 2) relate to the total number of PCNs issued andare rounded to the nearest full percent.

The percentages shown in 3) and 5) only relate to the total for that item.

The data is correct as at 30th April 2010.

Total On-Street Off-Street

1) Total number of PCNs issued 11,251 4,978 (44%) 6,273 (56%)

1a) At the higher level rate (70) 2,382 (21%) 2,111 (19%) 271 (2%)

1b) At the lower level rate (50) 8,869 (79%) 2,867 (25%) 6,002 (54%)

2) Total PCNs paid 8,666 (77%) 3,868 (34%) 4,798 (43%)

2a) At the discount rate (within 14 days) 5,945 (53%) 2,626 (23%) 3,319 (30%)

2b) At other rates 2,721 (24%) 1,242 (11%) 1,479 (13%)

3) Appeals and challenges considered bythe Council

2,319

3a) Successful (appeal allowed) 1,400 (60%)

3b) Unsuccessful (appeal rejected) 919 (40%)

4) Cancelled other reasons (e.g. foreignvehicle or no record at DVLA)

514

5) Appeals considered by the independentadjudication service

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5a) Decision in favour of the Council 14 (58%)

5b) Decision in favour of the Appellant 10 (42%)


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APPENDIX D

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BREAKDOWN OF CONTRAVENTIONS FOR PCNS ISSUED

(showing on-street and car park contraventions and whether higher or lower level

penalty, and ranked in percentage order of the total issued)

On-street Parked in a restricted street - yellow lines (higher)

No valid pay and display ticket (lower)

Parked after expiry of time (lower)

Exceeded limited waiting time (lower)

Parked in a taxi rank (higher)

No residents permit displayed (higher)

Not parked correctly (lower)

Parked in a disabled bay with no blue badge (higher)Parked in a bus stop (higher)

Parked on a pedestrian crossing (higher)

Parked during loading/unloading restrictions (higher)

Parked in a police bay (higher)

Extended period of stay (lower)

26%

26%

15%

11%

6%

6%

4%

2%2%

0.5%

0.5%

0.5%

0.5%

Car Parks No valid pay and display ticket (lower)

Parked after expiry of time (lower)

Parked beyond the bay markings (lower)

Parked in a reserved bay (higher)Parked in a disabled bay with no blue badge (higher)

Extended period of stay (lower)

47%

40%

8%

2.5%2%

0.5%


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BREAKDOWN OF PCNs ISSUED BY AREA APPENDI

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On-Street Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Total % 2008

Ash-Cum-Ridley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.0% 0

Brasted 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0.1% 0

Chevening 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0% 1

Crockenhill 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 7 0.1% 1

Dunton Green 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 6 0.1% 9

Edenbridge 37 14 9 33 26 32 42 49 23 24 20 23 332 6.7% 218

Eynsford 3 2 0 0 2 4 2 3 1 1 6 3 27 0.5% 18

Farningham 3 1 4 1 4 3 6 12 5 5 3 4 51 1.0% 54

Fawkham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0

Halstead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0

Hartley 1 6 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 19 0.4% 2

Hever 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0.1% 1

Hextable 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.1% 2

Horton Kirby S Darenth 1 0 0 6 4 2 2 5 1 0 0 0 21 0.4% 16

Knockholt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0

Leigh 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0% 0

Otford 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 9 0.2% 5

Penshurst 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 7

Riverhead 6 9 13 9 5 11 6 4 5 2 6 6 82 1.6% 60

Seal 1 1 0 0 6 2 2 3 2 1 0 1 19 0.4% 17

Sevenoaks 268 272 244 285 228 223 290 225 174 185 178 238 2,810 56.4% 2,92

Shoreham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 5

Sundridge 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 1 0 13 0.3% 8

Swanley 66 32 45 32 33 29 43 50 49 18 41 52 490 9.8% 294

West Kingsdown 0 2 0 1 3 4 0 2 6 1 3 3 25 0.5% 0Westerham 70 101 62 112 112 108 87 83 60 77 88 92 1,052 21.2% 706

On-street total 460 444 384 483 429 419 486 441 337 321 349 425 4,978 100.0% 4,34

50% 44% 43% 43% 45% 44% 46% 45% 45% 41% 41% 45% 44% 46%

Car Parks

Edenbridge 1 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0% 22

Sevenoaks 403 500 467 587 472 486 525 508 398 430 460 493 5,729 91% 4,71

Swanley 27 24 19 21 17 10 7 10 8 11 14 13 181 3% 178

Westerham 29 43 31 41 35 33 36 30 13 27 24 13 355 6% 278

Car parks total 460 571 519 650 524 529 568 548 419 468 498 519 6,273 100% 5,19

50% 56% 57% 57% 55% 56% 54% 55% 55% 59% 59% 55% 56% 54%

Combined Total 920 1,015 903 1,133 953 948 1,054 989 756 789 847 944 11,251 9,54


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APPENDIX F

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INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

The income and expenditure figures shown below are provisional and are subjectto ratification by the Councils Auditors.

On-Street Parking 2009/10

Salaries 294,151

Transport 14,794

Maintenance 53,663

Supplies and Services 22,512

Total Expenditure: 385,120

Parking waivers - 3,466

Pay and display charges - 294,814

Penalty Charge Notices - 139,465

Permits - 105,587

Total Income: - 543,332

Balance (net income): - 158,212

Car Parks 2009/10

Salaries 193,962

Transport 9,936

Maintenance 63,689

Supplies and Services 40,593

Property 191,671

Total Expenditure: 499,851

Parking waivers - 1,076

Pay and display charges - 1,356,907

Penalty Charge Notices - 149,722Season Tickets - 311,625

Rent - 4,067

Total Income: - 1,823,397

Balance (net income): - 1,323,546

sevenoaks annual parking report 200910

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