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Backfiring… charging for motorbike parking has put a protest group on collision course with Westminster Council.

A spoke in the Westminster wheel

When Westminster Council decided in 2008 to introduce parking charges for motorcyclists, it couldn’t have predicted the storm of controversy it would attract. Mass motorcycle

rides through the streets of London, an active blogging campaign and an EU enquiry into the legitimacy of the Partnership in Parking (PiP) scheme, are among the actions being taken by protestors. While the EU enquiry

was not directly due to a complaint by No to the Bike Parking Tax (NTBPT), it is true that the group has been very vocal in its criticism of the Council’s parking department activities. With 7,500 online

members, NTBPT carries a lot of clout. Activist Graeme Jones

said: ‘We might be a diverse group but we

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APRIL 2010

are prepared to take on Westminster, because we think they have acted illegally on a number of issues.’ Under PiP, instigated

by Westminster Council, London boroughs work as a consortium to procure parking services at a lower rate than could be negotiated by individual councils. Trough PiP, Verrus,

the pay-by-phone company, won the contract for cashless parking and NSL was orignally awarded the contract for parking enforcement. Cllr Danny Chalkley,

Westminster Council’s cabinet member for city management, said: ‘We have responded to the commission’s request for information. ‘Te contract was

properly awarded after a tender process carried out in accordance with

the law and the council’s procurement processes.’ Westminster has also

found itself in the firing line over the handling of the new contract for parking enforcement. Te council had named Mouchel as the preferred bidder and then announced that the process was flawed and had to be repeated. Leith Penny,

Westminster Council’s strategic director of city management, explained: ‘Tis flaw [in the contract] has come to light as a result of debriefing the different bidders. To be fair and transparent to those involved in the process, we have decided to end the current procurement process.’ Penny said there

would be an accelerated procurement process with a successful tenderer announced in about three months.

PAYPOINTS THE WAY

Pay-by–phone operator Verrus UK and its North American counterpart Verrus Inc have been acquired by PayPoint, the cash and internet payments company. In a deal worth £25m in the first instance, followed by two further payments of £4m each, depending upon cumulative results until 2013, PayPoint will have one hundred per cent control of both companies, although the business will continue to operate under the Verrus name. It is a deal that the

In the UK, PayPoint

has 22,300 terminals in local shops and handles more than £9.3bn annually. It also has an ATM network of 2,300 machines, typically situated in convenience stores.

David Newlands,

chief executive officer and founder of Verrus UK, Robin Bevan, sees very positively: ‘There are real benefits for both parties, and in fact we had identified PayPoint much earlier as a potential strategic partner in our development.’ Verrus UK currently supplies pay-by-phone systems to five London

chairman of PayPoint said: ‘Strong demand for pay-by-phone, interesting cross- over opportunities with our existing client base for a new payment channel, and opportunities to extend the Verrus application to other services, make Verrus a powerful addition to PayPoint’s payment service offering.’

The acquisition

will allow Verrus to invest in their current system and develop new projects. Bevan explained: ‘We will be able to get things to market quicker and develop areas that

boroughs, including the Westminster contract, and also has contracts with 18 other UK local authorities. This is in addition to operations worldwide, particularly in Canada.

Bevan, who will

oversee the commercial side of the overall business, said that the major benefit to PayPoint was the ‘Verrus international footprint’, with operations in Europe and North America.

we have identified for future expansion.’ One of the projects

under consideration was the expansion of motorists’ services. While still very much in the future, this will make it possible to pay PCN’s or buy permits through PayPoint terminals. It will also help those who do not want to use their credit or debit cards to make a payment, as PayPoint enables cash payments.

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