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A shining beacon
this to focus on their skills. ‘I’m holding parking
WESTMINSTER FACES FRESH CHALLENGE
After two attempts to award a contract and two failed high court injunctions, Westminster Council is finally in a position to award the £50m parking enforcement contract to current supplier NSL Services. Mouchel was the second company to challenge the tender process but the High Court turned down the injunction. Cllr Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster Council, said: ‘We have always maintained that our procurement process is fair and transparent and that Mouchel’s legal challenge was totally unfounded and misconceived. I’m delighted the injunction has now been lifted, enabling us to get on with the business of awarding our contract. ‘After a highly
competitive tendering process, our new parking enforcement contract can now be awarded to NSL Services, which will save local taxpayers £10m over four years. ‘I’m disappointed that we’ve had to waste so much time, effort and money dealing with Mouchel’s challenge and we are confident that any future claim will be dismissed by the courts.’
10 JULY 2010 Top of the class… Diana Salmon and Tracey Patel, two of the students on the NVQ Level 2 course
At a ceremony in Croydon Town Hall, BPA President Richard Hein presented 35 officers with NVQ awards, covering areas such as customer services, business administration, parking control and team leading. Councillor Phil
Tomas, cabinet member for environment and
highways, said: ‘Congratulations are due to all these staff members. Tey have shown great commitment in their desire to provide an exceptional service. ‘Part of the reason
for the ongoing success of parking services has been the willingness of staff to grow within their roles, undergoing training
the parking industry is the lack of engagement with the public to promote a positive image. The PATROL Annual Report Award was launched in 2009 to address this issue. The award aims to promote and share best practice among councils on the production of parking annual reports in order to increase public understanding of civil parking enforcement. The PATROL joint committee commissioned a review group to
judge this award. This was comprised of: David Marklew, retired city engineer of Winchester; David Leibling, representing the RAC Foundation; Karen Naylor, parking manager for Waltham Forest; and Colin Eaketts, from the Integrated Transport Unit of the Welsh Assembly Government. The framework
established for judging the entries included presentation, local context, customer service, performance, statistics and finance. Five councils were
where appropriate. I understand that 12 of the successful candidates are going on to level 3 qualifications.’ Tom Jeffrey, executive
director of community services, added: ‘For frontline staff, customer care is crucial. ‘Tey’re out there
every day dealing with customers, and that’s why it’s vital that they take opportunities like
shorlisted for the inaugural award and the review group unanimously selected Brighton and Hove City Council as overall winner.
Marklew said: ‘Given this was the first year of reporting by local authorities, the standard of the shortlisted entries was extremely high and demonstrated that these councils had sought to provide comprehensive information to the public about civil parking in their areas. In turn, these
services up as a beacon for other departments in the council.’ Hein said: ‘By demonstrating that staff in an industry of some 60,000 nationally are trained to a high level, we are showing that we are meeting and, in many cases, exceeding set standards. ‘Te merging of the
Institute of Parking Professionals and skills boards will help to raise standards by developing a framework of differing levels of qualifications at all levels to truly make parking recognised as a profession. ‘Te BPA is continuing
to lobby government to recognise our profession and to provide grants for further research and development of these qualifications.’
BRIGHTON REPORT PROVES PEERLESS A common criticism of
entries will help to promote best practice in reporting among councils generally.’ As well as its
presentation, Brighton and Hove’s report was also praised for its ability to link parking to other council objectives including local business, residents and the environment, as well as its explanations of partnership working. Submissions are invited for the second award, which will focus on the same key themes. The deadline for submissions is Friday 29 October.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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