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‘Fair for all’… disabled people are to pay for parking in Surrey
Pooling resources
Car sharing in Croydon will help the local authority reduce carbon emissions and save money
CHARGED DEBATE
Epsom and Ewell Council has decided to press on with
parking charges for the disabled in council- run car parks, despite a wave of objections against the decision. A close vote at a council meeting stood by the original vote taken earlier in the year by the Epsom and Ewell Residents’ Association.
During a highly- charged and emotional debate, opposition councillors defended free charges for the disabled and suggested the amount of money the council would gain from the charges – some £75,000 in the first year – could be found elsewhere, in services that would
not affect the most vulnerable.
A survey carried out with blue badge holders after the parking charges were given the go-ahead showed 43 per cent of respondents were happy with the charges and the council’s plan to improve access to car parks.
Defending the charges for the disabled, Cllr Neil Dallen said: ‘The council owns many car parks. Everyone would agree that we should maximise our returns from these car parks and this is one of the areas we should look at. There are many blue badge holders who can afford to pay for their parking.’
Croydon Council are helping residents save money and decrease their carbon footprint at the same time through the introduction of a car club scheme. In a bid to free up
parking spaces and limit the number of vehicles coming into the town centre, the council is launching a car pool pilot for its staff. When the pool cars aren’t in peak-time business use, local residents will be able to book the vehicles on a pay-as-you-go basis by joining the scheme. Tis could be attractive for residents who only use a vehicle occasionally.
Following a six-
month trial, the council anticipates it could introduce a pool of up to 100 cars. During the pilot period, it will be able to call on 30 vehicles supplied by Streetcar, who claim car clubs have already led to 20,000 cars being taken off the streets. Council staff can
book locally parked cars, either online or by phone. All mileage and costs will be electronically recorded by Streetcar and made immediately available for the council. Staff will not be able to use the vehicles for personal transport purposes.
Te scheme should
lead to a significant drop in the number of staff-owned vehicles being used on a daily basis for council business. In turn, this would reduce the need for staff parking places and encourage people to journey to work using public transport. Councillor Jason
Perry, cabinet member with responsibility for climate change issues, said: ‘Te concept of car sharing has been growing as more people question the traditional assumption of forking out money for a car that is usually parked for much of the day.’
TAKING BACK CONTROL OF THE TECHNOLOGY
Leeds is the second largest local authority in the country
employing more than 80 civil enforcement officers (CEOs), nearly 30 back-office staff, and issuing and processing 120,000 penalty charge notices (PCNs) each year. A parking operation of this size is always looking to make efficiency savings. In a bold move, the council’s parking
10 SEPTEMBER 2010
manager Mark Jefford has decided that all repairs and maintenance of the IT support will be taken in-house in an effort to cut costs. The council has been working in partnership with Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions (ICES), which supplies parking department with 3sixty enforcement management software. However the council is now employing lower
cost, new generation iPAQ units, which, according to Jefford, allows the parking operation to operate effectively within a restricted budget. ‘We’re making full use of the 3sixty software and the extensive experience of ICES in enforcement processing, but by working in partnership we’ve been able to adopt hardware with lower capital
investment where we have responsibility for arranging all repair and maintenance. This wouldn’t suit all authorities – especially those without any in- house IT resource. But, for us it has worked a treat, and the savings have been substantial.’ This leaves the council responsible for any ‘downtime’ if repairs are needed, but that is a risk that Jefford is prepared
to take for the sake of reducing costs.
Leeds City Council is a large authority and Mark and his team know what they want,’ said Toby Bliss of ICES. ‘The fact the authority has been highlighted in a recent national report as one of the most efficient in the country demonstrates that the drive for efficiency is far from being just a hollow gesture.’
www.britishparking.co.uk
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