TECHNICAL SERVICES

Civil Enforcement & Parking Services

Annual Report 2007- 2008

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary..............................................................................................................4
1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................8
1.1 Background...............................................................................................................8
1.2 Scope ..........................................................................................................................9
1.3 Parking Enforcement Objectives ..........................................................................9
1.4 Off-Street Car Parks ...............................................................................................9
1.5 Car Park Equipment repairs (Machine Faults)..................................................10
2.0 Service Overview & Methodology .....................................................................10
2.1 Notable Achievements .........................................................................................11
2.2 Clamping and Removal.........................................................................................11
2.3 Maintenance of Lines and Signs ..........................................................................11
2.4 Resident Parking Schemes ...................................................................................12
2.5 Development of Cancellation and Discretion Policy.......................................12
3.0 Emerging Technologies .........................................................................................12
3.1 Hand Held Computers with integrated cameras .............................................12
3.2 Information on Council’s web site .....................................................................12
3.3 IT System Development .......................................................................................13
3.4 Web Payment and 24 hour Fully Automated Payment Facilities. ................13
3.5 RingGo Mobile Phone Payment Systems............................................................13
4.0 Environmental & Highway Enforcement .........................................................14
4.1 Background.............................................................................................................14
4.2 Enforcement Activity............................................................................................14
5.0 Statistical Analysis..................................................................................................15
5.1 Key Facts and Figures...........................................................................................15
5.1.1 Off-Street Parking Capabilities...................................................................15
5.2 Financial Performance 2006/7 & 2007/8..........................................................17
5.3 Spending of Surplus Income ................................................................................18
5.4 Civil Enforcement..................................................................................................18
6.0 Statistical Performance ..........................................................................................19
6.1 Off-Street PCNs .....................................................................................................19
6.2 On-Street PCNs ......................................................................................................19
7.0 Cancellation & Mitigation (Penalty Charge Notices) ....................................20
7.1 Background to Informal Challenge.....................................................................20
7.2 Cancellation & Mitigation Policy ........................................................................20
7.3 Written Off .............................................................................................................20
7.4 Recovery of Penalty Income................................................................................20
7.5 Challenges and Representation Received.........................................................20
7.6 Appeals to National Parking Adjudication Service ..........................................21
7.7 Traffic Penalties Tribunal....................................................................................21
7.8 Contraventions of on and off street disabled parking bays...........................21
8.0 Future Plans ..............................................................................................................23
8.1 Traffic Management Act 2004 (Further Powers) ..........................................................23
8.2 Off-Street Parking .........................................................................................................23

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Appendix A Parking Contravention Code Analysis............................................................24
Appendix A Contravention Code Analysis continued .........................................................25
Appendix B Most common reasons for cancellation and analysis of the number of PCN
cancelled at each stage .............................................................................................................26
Appendix C PCN Recovery Analysis ..................................................................................27
Appendix D Correspondence & Parking Appeals 2007/8....................................................28
Appendix E Comparison PCNs Issued ................................................................................29
Appendix F PCN Issue Trend Bournemouth Past 6 Years ..................................................30
Appendix G Enforcement & Parking Services Management Plan.......................................31

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Executive Summary

Overview

This is the first Annual Report produced by Bournemouth Council in accordance

with the guidance to Local Authorities contained within Chapter 4 to the
Department for Transport’s, ‘Civil Enforcement Operational Guidance to Local
Authorities’ published in March 2008.

Bournemouth Borough Council’s parking enforcement organisation is directed to

tackling illegal parking to minimise congestion, contribute to road safety and to
manage kerb space. It is also recognised that this activity contributes to improving
air quality. The Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) are also used in direct
support of the school crossing patrol service and have a focus on school gate
enforcement, in tandem with enforcement at bus stops and sites where disabled
bays and taxi ranks are provided on the highway.

In addition to the enforcement role, the Council operates 48 off-street car park
sites offering just over 9000 public parking places at key locations throughout the
borough. With a seemingly ever expanding demand for Council’s to deliver civil
enforcement the operation now includes an environmental and highway
enforcement cadre. This report provides a brief history and impact of parking and
enforcement in Bournemouth. Historical data is used where considered
appropriate to provide perspective and comparison.

Methodology

The provision of parking enforcement in Bournemouth is delivered by an in-house

team based at Parkway House. The team forms a key part of the Council’s traffic
management arrangements. Enforcement is conducted by well trained and
resourced uniformed staff that work to ensure compliance with traffic regulations
across the borough in both on and off street locations. This is done with an
overarching consideration of Bournemouth as a resort and conferences venue with
a thriving commercial centre. This dictates that officers strive to deliver parking
enforcement in a considerate and consistent manner.

Bournemouth Borough Council commenced Decriminalised Parking Enforcement

under the Road Traffic Act 1991 in September 2001, when powers to enforce on
street parking contraventions moved to the Council. The Traffic Warden Service
transferred from Dorset Police to Bournemouth Borough Council, joining the
Council’s existing team of car park operatives to deliver the service under Council
primacy.

The introduction of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on the 31st March
2008 automatically designated all existing Local Authorities who enforced parking
under the Road Traffic Act 1991 (Decriminalised Parking Enforcement) as Civil
Enforcement Areas (CEAs). From that date the Road Traffic Act 1991 was repealed.

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 Parking Enforcement in Bournemouth

Parking enforcement has contributed to maintaining traffic flows and reducing

congestion across the borough. Data from the past 6 years indicates a steady drop
in the number of PCNs issued year on year in both on and off street locations.
While the public perception and acceptance of parking enforcement has improved,
there remains a concern that this activity is perceived as a money making exercise
for Council’s. The data provided in his report illustrates that this is not the case.
Consistent enforcement of the highway corridors encourages drivers to use off-
street car parks and it is considered that 5% of all off-street parking is directly
attributable to effective on-street enforcement.

While the number of front line enforcement operatives has remained broadly the
same over the past 6 years, the number of on-street Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)
issued has dropped by 17% over this period. In the Council’s car parks the drop in
PCNs is closer to 38%, assisted by the introduction of cashless parking provisions
and a focus on customer service.

Were PCNs are issued the recovery rates are high indicating the appropriateness of
the penalty in the first instance and also the effectiveness of the department’s
debt recovery arrangements. The table below provides data on PCNs issued and
percentage recovery over the past 3 years.

April 05 to April 06 to April 07 to

Periods March 06 March 07 March 08
On Street
PCN issued 21,099 21,882 19,264

Closed Part or full payment received 15,624 16,613 14,756

% paid 74% 76% 77%
Off Street
PCN issued 13947 10839 9536

Closed Part or full payment received 10306 7785 6921

%paid 74% 72% 73%
Total PCN Issued 35,046 32,721 28,800

At the Forefront of Enforcement

A number of initiatives have been embarked upon to tackle some of the more
challenging areas of parking enforcement.

• Schools Gates
• The Blue Badge Scheme
• Bus Stops & Taxi Ranks.

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School Gate Enforcement

The Council has a priority on school gate enforcement and has been working to
install Traffic Regulation Orders that enable robust enforcement at the school
gate. Additional personnel have been recruited to support this initiative and Civil
Enforcement Officers are now part of the school gate street scene, throughout
term time in Bournemouth.

Blue Badge Scheme

The ‘Blue Badge’ is issued to disabled people to facilitate convenient access and
provides the holder with the ability to park in locations where otherwise parking is
restricted in furtherance of their access needs. The borough also provides a
significant number of on-street dedicated disabled bays in key locations to support
the objectives of the scheme. Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) work to ensure
that road space allocated to the disabled is not compromised by non-entitled
motorists. There is also a concern nationally that the Blue Badge scheme is open to
abuse and fraudulent misuse of the provision. In 2008 the Council has used the
media, (local radio and press) to highlight this issue. Additional powers under the
Traffic Management Act have enabled CEOs to inspect badges and it is anticipated
that powers to confiscate any badges found to be fraudulently used will be
available in the near future.

Bus Stops & Taxi Ranks

The delivery of timely and convenient public transport is dependant on our ability
to minimise congestion and keep bus stops and taxi ranks clear of illegally parked
vehicles. As we enforce parking regulations by means of random patrols and do not
have the ability to be omni present in any one location, this aspect of enforcement
presents something of a challenge for CEOs. As with school gate enforcement
when CEOs are in attendance compliance is achieved. At other times either
through a lack of social responsibility or a total disregard for the rules of society,
motorists will seek to park on bus stops and taxi ranks with monotonous regularity.
As with the school gate issue, it may be the case that the future of enforcement in
these areas, lies in the introduction of enforcement cameras.

Off-Street Car Parks

The Council operates 47 off-street car parks across the Borough offering just over
9000 parking spaces, 4000 of which are in Town Centre locations. The majority of
spaces are provided on surface car parks which are popular with motorist and offer
parking on a Pay & Display basis. The flexibility of this provision is enhanced by the
availability of the RingGo mobile telephone parking system which provides
customers with the ability to extend their parking while remote from the car park
and receive a reminder towards the end of any paid for parking time to reduce
instances where the ‘paid for’ parking time is exceeded.

We have two multi story car park sites (Bournemouth International Centre and
Richmond Gardens) offering over 1500 parking spaces. The Richmond Gardens
MSCP site provides a ‘Pay on Foot’ (barrier entry) parking system, which offers the
user safe, convenient and flexible parking in close proximity to the Town Centre.

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Income & Expenditure

For the fiscal year 2007/8 the Council’s parking operation generated a gross
income of £6.5 million against operating expenditure of £3.3 million, providing a
net surplus to Council coffers of £3.2 million.

Environmental & Highway Enforcement

In February 2008 the Council formed a cadre of uniformed officers with a

particular focus on promoting compliance with litter, dog fouling, graffiti and fly
posting legislation in an effort to clean up our streets. Of particular concern was
the amount of smoking related litter resulting from the 2007 legislation. In
addition to environmental enforcement the team also has a focus on vehicle
related highway enforcement issues.

Future Plans

In terms of enforcement we look forward to the challenges of delivering the

additional moving traffic enforcement, under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act
2004 scheduled to come into force in 2009.

Regarding the future of off-street parking, we view the ‘Town Centre Master Vision
and the associated delivery options as an exciting prospect. It is hoped that this
development will hold the potential to provide the travelling public in
Bournemouth with a range of parking options in modern, efficient and safe off-
street car parks.

This is a summary of the full report which reviews parking and enforcement
(parking & environmental) for the fiscal year 2007/8.

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1.0 Introduction
This is the first Annual Report produced by Bournemouth Council in accordance
with the guidance to Local Authorities contained within Chapter 4 to the
Department for Transport’s, Operational Guidance published in March 2008. The
report also takes due regard of the requirements of Chapter 18 of the Traffic
Management Act 2004 and Chapter 27 of the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984.

Bournemouth Borough Council commenced Decriminalised Parking Enforcement

under the Road Traffic Act 1991 in September 2001, when powers to enforce on
street parking contraventions transferred to the Council. The Traffic Warden
Service transferred from Dorset Police to Bournemouth Borough Council, joining
the Council’s existing team of car park operatives to deliver the service under
Council primacy.

Department staff play a significant role in promoting professionalism and

consistency in the delivery of parking services and enforcement across the South
Coast and beyond. The Parking Service Manager currently sits as the ‘Chair’ of the
Southern Region Parking Managers Group and is a newly elected Non Executive
Director (Council Member) of the British Parking Association (BPA). This position,
as one of 25 Directors provides the opportunity to influence government policy
through consultation on parking and traffic issues and the strategic direction of the
BPA, as it endeavours to promote and sustain excellence in parking for all. In this
context there should be no confusion that all includes the public and their
expectations for customer service. Over the past 7 years staff members have
worked on task groups nationally, to develop the processes for the parking appeals
service, professional qualifications at all levels in the industry and have worked in
partnership with suppliers to develop penalty processing software for a range of
civil enforcement functions.

The introduction of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on the 31st March
2008 automatically designated all existing Local Authorities who enforced parking
under the Road Traffic Act 1991 (Decriminalised Parking Enforcement) as Civil
Enforcement Areas (CEAs). From that date the Road Traffic Act 1991 was repealed.

1.1 Background

The Council’s Enforcement and Parking Services Department is responsible for the
delivery of parking enforcement in direct support of the Council’s traffic
management responsibilities. In addition the department now provides the bulk of
the Council’s enforcement of environmental and highway offences. Beyond this,
the department manages the Council’s stock of parking places in both on and off
street locations. All activities are carried out ‘in house’ with all staff based at the
parking operations centre at Parkway House, Avenue Road.

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1.2 Scope

This document seeks to describe the enforcement methodologies and provide

performance data for the Council’s Enforcement and Parking Services activities
from the 1st April 2007 to the 31st March 2008. Where appropriate and for
comparison purposes data from earlier years may also be provided where
considered relevant.

1.3 Parking Enforcement Objectives

Parking Enforcement is undertaken 7 days a week between the hours of 0830 and
2100 hours daily, extending to 2200 hours during the summer with occasional
additional hours worked outside these hours to address specific issues. The
primary aim of parking enforcement is traffic management and within that
overarching aim the service seeks to focus on the following objectives.

• To reduce traffic congestion resulting from illegally parked vehicles.

• To contribute towards road safety.
• Through reducing congestion, to contribute towards improvements
in air quality.
• To assist the timely operation of public transport.
• To facilitate access and response times for emergency service
vehicles.
• To manage kerb space and access to parking places in support of
commuter, shopping and leisure parking.
• To provide emergency warden relief to the school crossing patrol
service.

In February 2008 the department commenced environmental enforcement with a

focus on littering, dog fouling, graffiti and fly posting. Working in partnership with
Dorset Police and other agencies of the Council, this initiative is proving to be
highly effective in promoting compliance with environmental and highway issues.

1.4 Off-Street Car Parks

The Council holds a stock of off-street car parks at 47 locations across the borough,
offering in excess of 9,000 parking spaces. Of this number approximately 4000 are
Town Centre sites. While the majority are surface Pay & Display car parks, the
Council has two multi storey sites at the Bournemouth International Centre (689
spaces) and Richmond Gardens (935 spaces), which offers ‘Pay on Foot’ barrier
system parking. The car park sites across the borough offer a range of payment
options (depending on location) including, cash, credit card, permits and the
increasingly popular mobile telephone payment option, which brings both
flexibility and convenience.

The parking tariffs adopted by the Council seek to support traffic management by
influencing highway use in specific locations. The range and cost of parking is also
influenced by the need to provide access and availability to well maintained, safe
parking in direct support of a dynamic local economy. The tariff structures

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adopted also takes due regard of the provision of the conurbation Local Transport
Plan.

It is recognised that the public do not come to Bournemouth to park; they come to
reside, work, shop and indulge in leisure/tourism activities and events. It is
therefore the case that external factors such as weather conditions, the retail
offer and events will have a significant impact on patronage in our car parks over
the year. As a resort town, with a range of seafront car parks, there is a direct link
between weather conditions and our ability to meet car park income targets. The
past two years have been poor with no sustained periods of fine weather across the
summer season, which inevitably reflects in the levels of income achieved. Other
factors such as Castle Point and its impact on locations such as Boscombe have also
had, and continue to have, a negative influence on car park income in
Bournemouth.

1.5 Car Park Equipment repairs (Machine Faults)

Parking Services employs two electrical technicians who respond to car park
equipment failures on average within 2 hours of reporting. Our technicians are
trained and qualified to repair and maintain our Metric Parking and Alfia-Stanley
equipment. The response time achieved facilitates quick repairs and minimise
down time thus reducing the potential for lost income and disruption to customer
service. We maintain a comprehensive equipment spares pack in Bournemouth.

As with most aspect of our operation, the work of our technicians is expanding into
other aspects of car park maintenance from signage to overseeing minor surface
repairs. In the spirit of joint working with our neighbours we also have Service
Level Agreements with neighbouring Councils’ for repair and maintenance of
parking equipment.

2.0 Service Overview & Methodology

Commencing in September 2001 and continuing until 30th March 2008 the Council
enforced parking restrictions in both on and off street locations under legislative
powers set out in the Road Traffic Act 1991. All enforcement activities are carried
out in house and all staff involved with the delivery of the service, operate from a
single location. This arrangement facilitates the following.

Customer Service.
Ease of communication between operational and back office staff, thus facilitating
timely and quality decision making on parking enforcement matters.
The development of team spirit, staff retention and professional standards, all
essential in providing a quality service to the public.

The department is headed by the Enforcement and Parking Services Manager, who
is supported by an Operational Manager and an Office Manager. The Operations
Manager controls the daily work of 7 supervisors each in charge of a squad of Civil
Enforcement Officers delivering a diverse range of services from environmental
enforcement, mobile parking enforcement patrols, to customer service in off
street car parks. The Office Manager leads 2 teams, Processing and Office Support,
each headed by a Team Leader. The processing team deal with a range of back
office functions from data entry of parking penalties to parking appeals. The

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administration team deal with payments, permits and cash accounting, (See
organisational chart at Appendix G).

2.1 Notable Achievements

Over the past 8 years, the Bournemouth parking operation has gained a reputation
across the parking sector nationally as a good example of how a Council should be
configured to deliver efficient and effective enforcement and parking. Resultantly
we receive and continue to receive visits from officers and elected members from
other Councils’ across England, either to review specific aspects of our service
delivery or experience the operation as a whole. While in terms of the delivery of
enforcement, consideration of parking appeals, processing of PCNs and debt
recovery our performance is excellent, the operation has nevertheless periodically
suffered from the fragility of our Traffic Regulation Orders and the pace with
which lines and signs are either replaced or refreshed. This aspect of our service
while continuously under review is now a focus for significant improvement. At
time of reporting a root and branch review and condition survey is close to
completion.

The period April 2007 – March 2008 saw the department preparing for the
introduction of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) which expands the range of
parking contraventions and will in the near future bring some moving traffic
offences into the civil enforcement arena. The TMA also provides for CCTV
enforcement of parking contraventions and in 2009 will include bus lane and
moving traffic detection by this means for Local Authorities outside London.

2.2 Clamping and Removal

Following training of staff to enable them to clamp vehicles, the department now
clamps and in some circumstances will remove vehicles belonging to persistent
evaders, (Now defined nationally as individuals whose vehicle is found parked in
contravention where the vehicle has 3 or more outstanding Penalty Charge Notices)
and in some instances the registered keeper details have not been obtainable from
DVLA. If a vehicle is not claimed following being clamped the Council arrange for
removal to a secure compound and if still not claimed arrange for disposal.
Therefore this action contributes to the removal of uninsured and often illegal
vehicles from the highway. It is our experience that such vehicles may also on
occasions be associated with criminality.

2.3 Maintenance of Lines and Signs

With close to 200 miles of parking restrictions within the Borough, the Council
endeavours to maintain signs and lines in a condition that the average motorist
would clearly understand the requirements of the restriction in force, there are
occasions when the signs or lines will become worn, damaged or vandalised.
Resultantly, there are mechanisms in place to ensure that defects are reported to
the appropriate team, however sometimes the defects may only relate to a very
small break in the line, but yet continue to compromise enforcement.

To address this issue the department is developing a capacity to make small

repairs to line markings or replace signage and will seek to respond to reports of

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this type in quick time. It is however a continued concern for this department that
the maintenance of lines and signs remains a top priority for the Council’s traffic
section.

2.4 Resident Parking Schemes

Resident Parking Schemes have been introduced, for a number of locations across
the Borough. It is anticipated that this will continue to be a growing sector of
traffic management, designed to counter the increasing demand for highway space
and meet the not unreasonable expectations of residents to park in the vicinity of
their dwelling. This provision is designed primarily but not exclusively to assist
residents who have no off-road parking at their place of residence.

2.5 Development of Cancellation and Discretion Policy

The department has recently published its cancellation and discretion policy on the
Council’s web site setting out how it considers challenges to Penalty Charge
Notices not only on the statutory grounds but also where the motorist considers
there are mitigating circumstances or compelling reasons why the Penalty Charge
Notice should not have been issued. This document will be regularly reviewed and
provides guidance to not only the department’s staff but also members of the
public. It is one of the methods where this department is striving to develop
openness and transparency in the delivery of parking enforcement.

3.0 Emerging Technologies

The Department continues to make best use of emerging technology to improve
systems and efficiency, which in turn improves customer service. Examples of
these achievements are included in this report.

3.1 Hand Held Computers with integrated cameras

Each Civil Enforcement Officer is issued with a hand held computer to generate
penalties and record evidence of contraventions. The equipment currently in use
has facility for digital stills photographs, which are date time grouped (cross
referenced) to specific contraventions. Beyond this the equipment has facility to
record sound and may be used to record instances of verbal abuse when considered
appropriate. The quality of the evidence produced by this equipment is also a
significant benefit to the consideration of challenges made against the issue of a
Penalty Charge Notices.

3.2 Information on Council’s web site

Information on the Council web site is regularly updated. Improvements to the site
include location maps to assist motorists identify the car park most suitable to
their needs. There is a page providing information on disabled parking facilities
and regulations, which includes a printable leaflet providing details of the location
of both off and on street disabled parking bays. Information has also been provided
to assist the motorist who wants to challenge their Penalty Charge Notice.
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3.3 IT System Development

Key members of staff within the department have received training to enable them
to resolve straightforward technical issues and to improve and update letters held
on the system. The system providers ‘Imperial Civil Enforcement Systems’ (ICES)
have continually striven to improve the product and have implemented
improvements requested by users through the product ‘steering group’ on which a
member of the department’s staff now sits.

The Enforcement and Parking Services section uses not only the Parking Gateway
module, for Parking Contraventions, but also the Permit Module, the Clamping and
Removal module, Environmental Enforcement Module and in addition the
statistical information management tools integral to the enforcement gateway.
The reliability of the system has improved greatly and the working relationship
between the technical staff at ICES and the Council’s IT department is excellent
and has meant that through co-operation any major technical issues are usually
resolved promptly.

The introduction of the Traffic Management Act on 30th March 2008 was a key
example of the department’s staff, Bournemouth IT Services and ICES working
together to ensure a smooth transition between enforcement under The Road
Traffic Act 1991 to The Traffic Management Act 2004.

3.4 Web Payment and 24 hour Fully Automated Payment Facilities.

The department was keen to utilise this facility to enable motorists to pay via the
web. This was introduced in 2004 and now over 40% of payments are received
electronically. It is estimated that the introduction of this service has saved the
equivalent of one full time employee who would otherwise have been required to
process payments. From a customer service perspective importantly, this has
provided motorists with convenient and robust 24-hour payment facilities. It is
proposed to extend the web payment facility to payments for permits within the
next year.

3.5 RingGo Mobile Phone Payment Systems

The ability to pay by mobile phone was introduced over all pay and display car
parks in July 2006. The Council chose this system because it is customer friendly,
UK based and has a range of services, which brings flexibility and convenience to
Pay and Display parking not achievable by any other means.

The Scheme has proved to be highly popular and has enjoyed a steady increase in
patronage with some car parks now seeing up to 7% of all transactions made by this
method. It is anticipated that the demand for cashless (mobile telephone) parking
will continue to grow in particular with commuters and the business community as
RingGo has the flexibility of use and features such as the provision to download
VAT receipts, receive reminders when a period of parking is ending and enables
the user to top up their parking when remote from the car park or vehicle.

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4.0 Environmental & Highway Enforcement
4.1 Background

In February 2008 the Council formed a cadre of 4 uniformed officers with a

particular focus on promoting compliance with litter, dog fouling, graffiti and fly
posting legislation in an effort to clean up our streets. Of particular concern was
the amount of smoking related litter resulting from the 2007 legislation. In
addition to environmental enforcement the team also has a focus on vehicle
related highway enforcement issues. In this arena the most prevalent issue is
vehicles exposed for sale on the highway.

4.2 Enforcement Activity

Over the past 6 months Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have been issued for the
offences as outlined in the table below

Offence Type Number issued

Depositing Litter 98
Distribution of Printed Matter 1
Graffiti 2
Parking of Vehicles Exposed for Sale on 13
a Road
Repairing of Vehicles in a Road by a 1
Business
Failing to remove Dog Faeces from 2
Designated Land
TOTAL 117
Table 3 on page 17 gives details on FPN income recovered to 31st March 2008.

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 5.0 Statistical Analysis
5.1 Key Facts and Figures

5.1.1 Off-Street Parking Capabilities

The current number of spaces in car parks operated by the Council is 9012

CAR PARK No of spaces CAR PARK No of spaces

9/11 ST STEPHEN’S ROAD 74 MADEIRA ROAD SOUTH 51

ALUM CHINE 92 MADEIRA ROAD WEST 126
ALUMHURST ROAD 98 MILBURN ROAD 175
BATH ROAD NORTH 116 OVERSTRAND 313
BATH ROAD SOUTH 163 PALMERSTON ROAD 94
BEACON ROAD 44 PAVILION 185
BERRY COURT 155 POUND LANE 74
BIC 650 QUEENS ROAD 70
BRAIDLEY ROAD 63 RICHMOND GARDENS 935
CENTRAL 315 RICHMOND HILL 112
COTLANDS ROAD 420 RIVERLANDS/WICK LANE 60
CRANMER ROAD 190 SEABOURNE ROAD 25
DURLEY CHINE 131 SOLENT BEACH 581
DURLEY ROAD 119 SOUTHBOURNE XROADS 78
EDEN GLEN 66 TERRACE MOUNT 261
GLEN FERN 64 TOWN HALL ANNEXE 114
HAWKWOOD RD NO 1 33 TOWN HALL EXTENSION 79
HAWKWOOD RD NO 2 40 TOWN HALL FORECOURT 36
HAWKWOOD ROAD Main 389 WARREN EDGE 192
HENGISTBURY HEAD 704 WEST HILL 127
KINGS PARK 700 WINTER GARDENS 250
LANDSEER ROAD 53 WOODSIDE ROAD 85
LANSDOWNE ROAD 40
LESLIE ROAD 53
LEYTON MOUNT 217

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 The number of permits issued in 2007/8

Permit Summary Totals by Type

Issued between 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008

Type Public Car Park Permits Resident on street permits

Ad Hoc Off Street 142

AFC Bournemouth 50
Berry Court Permit 40
Business - Winton 18
Central Permit 124
Complimentary 6
Cotlands Road Permit 323
Durley Road Permit 9
Durley Road School 65
General Permit 1
Hawkwood Road Permit 11
Holiday Let - Undercliff Road 17
Holiday Let - Wotton Gardens 2
Kings Park Permit 122
Lansdowne Road Permit 44
Leyton Mount Permit 98
Madeira Road South Permit 13
Madeira Road West Permit 213
MCIT Lansdowne Road Permit 31
Milburn Road Permit 54
Palmerston Road Permit 1
Residents - Exeter Park Road 5
Residents - Undercliff Road 43
Residents - Verulam Place 27
Residents - Winton 27
Residents - Wotton Gardens 30
Richmond Gardens Permit 312
Richmond Hill Permit 144
Terrace Gardens Permit 15
Terrace Mount Permit 79
Visitors - Winton 25
West Hill Permit 35
Woodside Road Permit 24
Worship 202
TOTAL 2,158 194

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5.2 Financial Performance 2006/7 & 2007/8

Table 3 gives a breakdown of income, expenditure and surplus.

Expenditure 2006/7 2007/8

Employees 1,324,978 1,408,400

Premises 948,152 1,010,679
Transport 97,958 101,745
Supplies & Services 454,853 432,904
Third Party Payments 45,141 41,931
Support Services 237,968 219,740
Capital Charges 165,090 116,925

Total Expenditure 3 274,140 3,332,324

Income 2006/7 2007/8

Parking Fees Off-Street 5,026,072 5,167,715

Parking Fees On Street 449,554 453,005
PCN Income On-Street 659,738 605,772
PCN Income Off-Street 280,684 258,770
Recharges 146,568 81,535
Environmental Enforcement Nil 1,500

Total Income 6,562,616 6,568,297

Surplus 3,288,476 3,235,973

Note

1. Variance on expenditure up 1.7%

2. Variance in Income is up 0.08%
3. Variance on surplus is down 1.6%

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5.3 Spending of Surplus Income

The expenditure of income derived from parking places is governed by the dictates
of Section 88 to Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 and Section 55 (4) of
the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984. The specific areas for expenditure are as
follows.

• Funding the provision of the service.

• Meeting all or any part of the cost of provision or maintenance of off-street
car parks.
• Facilitating the provision of public passenger transport.
• Highway Improvements within the Borough.

5.4 Civil Enforcement

The proportion of operational expenditure (as detailed at Table 3 above)

apportioned to the delivery of the Council’s civil enforcement activity for 2007/8 is
as follows.
Table 4 Civil Enforcement Income & Expenditure

Expenditure 2007/8

Salaries 774,620 (55% of all salary costs)

Premises 50,356
Transport 31,423
Supplies & Services 118,695 (28% of Supplies & Services)
Third Part Payments 25,159
Support Services 26,782

Total Attributed Expenditure 1,027,035

Income 2007/8

Off-Street PCNs 258,770

On-Street PCNs 605,772
Environmental Enforcement 1,500
Compliance Dividend (5% off street P&D income) 258,385

Total Income 1.112,440

Surplus 85,405 (Integral to 3.2 million at table 4)

18
6.0 Statistical Performance

Appendix A provides a full breakdown of the number of PCN issued against each
contravention code.
NOTE –
1. The higher and lower level sections in Appendix A relate to PCN issued under the Traffic
Management Act where there are now two levels of PCN depending on the severity of the
contravention.

6.1 Off-Street PCNs

Year Off-Street Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs

2007/8 9,536
2006/7 10,893
2005/6 13,947

In 2007/8 almost 52% of all PCN issued were for parking without clearly displaying
a valid pay and display ticket and a further 30% for parking after the expiry time.
10% of the tickets issued were for not parking within a marked bay.

Over the past three years we have experienced a 32% drop in PCNs issued in car
parks as a result of the introduction of cashless parking measures. Of particular
note is the introduction of mobile telephone parking, which accounts for the
majority of this reduction. As a resort town, it is clearly important that our
visitors have a positive experience and any measure, which reduces the potential
for a negative experience when using our off-street parking places, is to be
welcomed.

6.2 On-Street PCNs

Year On Street Parking

2007/8 19,264
2006/7 21,882
2005/6 21,099

Almost 44% of the PCN issued were because the vehicle had parked where waiting
restrictions applied and a further 18% were issued where the motorist had parked
longer than permitted in on street parking bays.

Over the past three years the number of on-street PCNs have reduced by between
8% and 12%, however while improved compliance may account for a proportion of
this number (around 3%), the majority (around 9%) reflect the impact of fewer
enforcement personnel on the streets, either resulting from periodic recruitment
difficulties or long term sickness absence. Clearly the stress associated with
delivering this service at all levels has an impact on service delivery.

The Council has introduced on street meters at various locations and a total of
2,301 PCN were issued for failing to display a valid pay and display ticket, although
this was almost a 30% drop compared to the previous year. Over 8% of the PCN
were issued for motorist failing to display a valid disabled badge when parked in a
disabled parking space.

19
7.0 Cancellation & Mitigation (Penalty Charge Notices)
7.1 Background to Informal Challenge

Correspondence prior to Notice to Owner is an informal challenge, at Notice to

Owner stage it is termed a formal representation and if the motorist takes the case
to adjudication it then becomes an Appeal.

7.2 Cancellation & Mitigation Policy

Parking Services has always had cancellation and mitigation policies against which
challenges/representation or appeals were considered. However as part of the
transfer to enforcement under the Traffic Management Act these policies have
been combined into a single document entitled Guidance Policies for the
Enforcement and Cancellation of PCN. This document has been published on the
Council’s web site www.bournemouth.gov.uk.

Appendix B shows an analysis of the number of PCN cancelled at each stage and
the most frequent reasons for a Penalty to be cancelled. In 2007/8 a total of just
under 15% of PCN were cancelled prior to a warrant being issued.

7.3 Written Off

Due to the transient nature of some of the population e.g. students or seasonal
workers there will inevitably be a proportion of PCN that are unrecoverable and as
a consequence written off. A warrant is issued to our bailiff companies to authorise
recovery action. A number of these will be returned as written off as unable to
trace, or no effects or will expire before money can be fully recovered. In 2006/7
this amounted to 2344 (as at end of June 2008).

7.4 Recovery of Penalty Income

In the last 3 financial years Parking Services has recovered over 70% of all Penalty
Charge Notices issued, (See Appendix C). Whilst the number of PCN issued has
fallen by 12% during 2007/8 compared with 2006/7 in respect of on street
contraventions over 76% have been paid. The greater proportion of PCN are fully
paid prior to the Notice to Owner being issued, around 57%, with a further 7%
being fully paid at Notice to Owner stage and prior to Charge Certificate.

7.5 Challenges and Representation Received

Where a motorist writes to us prior to the issue of the Notice to Owner the
correspondence is called an Informal Challenge. A representation is a formal
challenge to the issue of the Penalty Charge Notice as defined under the Road
Traffic Act 1991. It is only once the motorist has received a rejection to a
representation that an appeal may be made to the National Parking Adjudication
Service (Now re-branded at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal).

During 2007/8 a total of 4293 informal challenges and 939 Formal Representations
were received.

20
7.6 Appeals to National Parking Adjudication Service

During 2007/8 a total of 104 appeals were made to the Adjudication Service.
During this period the Council chose not to contest 10 appeals. This was mainly due
to new information being provided by the appellant, for example information on
the keeper of the vehicle or supporting documentary evidence such as loading
evidence. A total of 23 appeals were allowed at appeal and 69 refused. Further
information on challenges, representations and appeals is to be found at
(Appendix D) to this document.

7.7 Traffic Penalties Tribunal

Resulting from the wider powers available to Council’s under the Traffic
Management Act 2004 and particularly the provision of this legislation in respect of
moving traffic issues the National Parking Adjudication Services (NPAS) was re-
branded to reflect the wider considerations of traffic management and is now
called the Traffic Penalties Tribunal.

7.8 Contraventions of on and off street disabled parking bays

Parking Services is concerned about the abuse of disabled parking bays and the
number of Penalty Charge Notices issued on street for contraventions of this
provision. Parked in a disabled bay is second only to the number of Penalty Charge
Notices issued to vehicles parked on double or single yellow lines. In 2007/8 a total
of 3531 PCNs were issued to vehicles parked in an on street disabled parking bay
without displaying a valid disabled badge. This amounted to 12% of all PCNs issued
that year.

Over 10% of Penalty Charge Notices issued for contravention of on street disabled
parking bays (Code 40), occur because either a valid disabled badge was not
displayed or not displayed correctly and were subsequently cancelled following a
valid disabled badge being provided as evidence. The actual percentage of this
occurrence in 2007/8 was 12.8%.

Of the 8374 PCN issued in 2007/8 for parking where waiting is restricted (code 01
Restricted parking on double or single lines) a total of 147 were subsequently
cancelled when a valid disabled badge was produced.

When looking at car park contraventions (Off Street), it can be seen that in 2007/8
a total of 235 Penalty Charge Notices were issued because the vehicle was parked
in a disabled parking bay (code 87) but was not clearly displaying a disabled badge.
Of these 34.5% were then subsequently cancelled when a valid disabled badge was
produced.

It is the Council’s policy when considering challenges relating to disabled badge

holders to consider exercising discretion if it is the first contravention for failing to
correctly display the disabled badge, however we may not exercise the same
discretion if another Penalty Charge is issued.

Parking Services in 2007/8 carried out a campaign in the BH Life and PrimeTime
magazine and on local radio 2CRFM to encourage disabled badge holders to display
their badges correctly. We have also produced a disabled badge leaflet providing

21
information to disabled badge holders, available from our offices or from the
Council’s disabled parking web page.

Parking Services is concerned that there is a problem with abuse of the blue badge
scheme. The introduction of the Traffic Management Act conferred power to Civil
Enforcement Officers (CEOs) to inspect badges and it is anticipated that powers
will soon be available to CEOs to confiscate badges where it is clear that the badge
has expired or is forged.

The introduction of the Department for Transport Blue Badge Scheme, Local
Authority Guidance (England) published in January 2008 represents a step change
in the administration of the scheme and should contribute to reducing fraudulent
use of the badge into the future.

The Council also maintains a keen interest in technological solutions such as Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) which hold the potential to contribute to
eradicating misuse of the Blue Badge and criminality associated with theft of the
badge from motor vehicles. The government is currently evaluating this
technology.

Report showing the number of Penalty Charge Notices cancelled following a valid Blue
Badge being provided as evidence.

Report showing the number of Penalty Charge Notices cancelled following a valid Blue
Badge being provided as evidence
Contravention 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008
On Street 379 412 383
RTA 379 412 383
01Restricted parking 146 150 147
02Waiting Loading/Unload 5 1 3
05Expiry Pay & Display Ba 1 3 0
06Failing to Display 7 21 6
15Res Parking Non Display 0 1 1
25On Street Loading Bays 1 0 3
30Exceeding Time 15 8 8
40Parked in Disabled Bay 202 228 215
45Taxi Rank 2 0 0
Off Street 107 129 132
RTA 107 129 132
82Time Expired Parking 2 2 0
83No Display Valid Ticket 48 37 48
85Permit Bay Fail to Disp 2 0 0
86Out of Bay 2 4 3
87Disabled Parking Bay 53 86 81
All Contraventions 486 541 515

22
8.0 Future Plans

8.1 Traffic Management Act 2004 (Further Powers)

While we have successfully delivered parking enforcement under the Traffic

Management Act 2004, next year (2009) will see the introduction of powers to deal
with a raft of moving traffic issues with some or all being adopted by the Council
as part of an invigorated traffic management strategy for Bournemouth and the
wider conurbation.

It is considered that the delivery of moving traffic enforcement (Bus Lanes, one
way streets, prohibition on turnings etc,) will necessitate the introduction of
technology based enforcement, such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition
(ANPR) cameras, which may be provided in either static or mobile units. This will
represent a step change in the delivery of enforcement in the Borough, which
currently relies entirely on human resources to detect when a contravention of the
regulations has been committed.

8.2 Off-Street Parking

The Council’s current stock of off-street parking needs infrastructure investment

to ensure we continue to deliver the appropriate levels of customer service for 21st
century parking, in support of a vibrant local economy. While we are currently
working on a refurbishment plan for our current sites, the Town Centre Master
Vision and the associated delivery options are welcomed as an exciting opportunity
to review, develop and refine the Borough’s stock of off-street car parks. Clearly it
is essential that our transport infrastructure and off-street parking, as a vital
element of that infrastructure is accurately configured to directly support the
facilities envisaged within a regenerated Town Centre environment.

23
 Appendix
Appendix A Parking Contravention Code Analysis

Annual report contravention code analysis

Year 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

On Street 21,099 21,882 19,264
RTA 21,099 21,882 19,219
01Restricted parking 8,813 8,385 8,357
02Waiting Loading/Unload 1,270 1,065 1,100
04Penalty Time 2 0 0
05Expiry Pay & Display Bay 636 1,056 864
06Failing to Display 1,578 3,281 2,299
07Meter Feeding 0 1 0
15Res Parking Non Display 164 513 235
16Permit Bay Non Display 11 26 9
20Loading Gap Parking 1 0 1
21Suspended Bay Parking 0 0 0
22Returning within 1 hour 32 16 25
23Non Designated Parking 60 203 92
24Incorrect Parking 438 245 32
25On Street Loading Bays 605 682 499
30Exceeding Time 5,010 3,890 3,528
40Parked in Disabled Bay 1,920 1,952 1,673
42Police Parking Space 5 0 6
45Taxi Rank 281 344 305
47Bus Stands 268 217 191
48School Parking 4 4 0
55Overnight Waiting Ban 1 0 1
56Commercial Vehicle Rest 0 0 0
57Coach Ban 0 0 2
61HGV Parked on Footway 0 0 0
63Parked Engine Running 0 2 0
TMA Higher Level 0 0 33
01 Restricted Parking 0 0 17
02 Waiting Loading/Unload 0 0 7
12 No Residents Permit 0 0 2
23 Non Designated Parking 0 0 0
25 On Street Loading Bays 0 0 3
40 Parked in Disabled Bay 0 0 3
45 Taxi Rank 0 0 1
47 Bus Stands 0 0 0
TMA Lower Level 0 0 12
05 Expiry Pay & Display Bay 0 0 1
06 Failing to Display 0 0 2
22 Returning within 1 hr 0 0 0
30 Exceeding Time 0 0 9

24
 Appendix A Contravention Code Analysis continued

Annual report contravention code analysis

30/06/2008 data correct at
Year 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

Off Street 13,947 10,839 9,536

RTA 13,947 10,839 9,514
80 Parking Maxi permitted 261 344 282
81Restricted Area Parking 11 7 5
82Time Expired Parking 4,373 3,274 2,879
83No Display Valid Ticket 7,461 5,731 4,928
85Permit Bay Fail to Disp 324 186 176
86Out of Bay 1,207 1,014 961
87Disabled Parking Bay 237 248 235
89Exceed Max Height/Weigh 6 1 4
91Parking Non Designated 63 24 26
92Causing Obstruction 2 0 1
93Parking Closed Car Park 2 1 1
95Not designated purpose 0 9 16
TMA Lower Level 0 0 22
80 Parking Maxi permitted 0 0 0
82 Time Expired Parking 0 0 8
83 No Display Valid Tkt 0 0 12
86 Out of Bay 0 0 2
TMA Higher Level 0 0 0
85 Permit Bay Fail Disp 0 0 0
87 Disabled Parking Bay 0 0 0
91 Parking Non Designated 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
99 Zigzags Pedestrian Crossings 0 0 0
All Contraventions 35,046 32,721 28,800

25
 Appendix B Most common reasons for cancellation and analysis of the number
of PCN cancelled at each stage

Cancellation Reason and number cancelled during 2007/8

Cancelled - Adjudications Allowed 19
Cancelled - Admin Error 21
Cancelled – PA/CEO Error - Vehicle Details 24
Cancelled - Foreign Driver 25
Cancelled - Loading Unloading Evidence 32
Cancelled - Supporting Docs at DVLA 40
Cancelled - Inadequate Lines 45
Cancelled - Vehicle Broken Down 46
Cancelled - PD Machine Faulty 51
Cancelled - PA Error - Other 71
Cancelled - Inadequate Signing 72
Cancelled - PA Error - VRM Details Wrong 72
Cancelled - Spoiled Before Issue 81
Cancelled - Vehicle Drove Away 83
Cancelled - Representations Allowed 85
Cancelled - Owner Cannot Be Traced 179
Cancelled - General Reason 418
Disabled - Blue/Orange badge holder 515
Cancelled - Foreign Vehicle 721
Cancelled - Valid Permit PD Ticket 740

2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

Cancelled before NTO
issued 4,308 4,170 3,743
Percent Cancelled
before NTO issued 12.29% 12.74% 13.00%
Cancelled after NTO
issued 555 341 247
Percent Cancelled
after NTO issued 1.58% 1.04% 0.86%
Cancelled after Charge
Cert issued 328 256 165
Percent Cancelled
after Charge Cert
issued 0.94% 0.78% 0.57%
Cancelled after Debt
Reg issued 191 102 64

Percent Cancelled
after Debt Reg issued 0.54% 0.31% 0.22%
Cancelled after
Warrant issued 3,388 2,309 233
Percent Cancelled
after Warrant issued 9.67% 7.06% 0.81%
Not cancelled 26,276 25,543 24,348
No of PCN issued 35,046 32,721 28,800

26
 Appendix C PCN Recovery Analysis

April 06 to April 07 to
Periods April 05 to March 06 March 07 March 08
On Street
PCN issued 21,099 21,882 19,264

Closed Part or full payment received 15,624 16,613 14,756

% paid 74% 76% 77%
Off Street
PCN issued 13947 10839 9536

Closed Part or full payment received 10306 7785 6921

%paid 74% 72% 73%
Total PCN Issued 35,046 32,721 28,800

27
Appendix D Correspondence & Parking Appeals 2007/8

Correspondence Totals
Incoming 21,764 (40.7%)
Outgoing 31,664 (59.3%)
Total All Correspondence 53,428 (100%)

Informal Challenge Totals

Challenge Accepted 2159 (50.3%)
Challenge Rejected 2134 (49.7%)
Total Considered 4,293 (100%)

Formal Representations Totals

Notice to Owner Accepted 242 (25.7%)
Notice of Rejection 697 (74.3%)
Total Considered 939 (100%)

National Parking Adjudication Service (Traffic Penalties Tribunal) Totals

Appeals Allowed 23 (22.2%)
Appeals Not Contested by Council 10 (9.6%)
Appeals Refused 69 (66.3%)
Awaiting Decision 02 (1.9 %)
Total Appeals 104 (100%)

28
 B
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4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000

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Appendix E Comparison PCNs Issued

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P
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29
ll
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COMPARISON PCNs ISSUED

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2006/7
2007/8
Appendix F PCN Issue Trend Bournemouth Past 6 Years

25000

March 02 April 03
20000
March 03 April 04

15000 March 04 April 05

March 05 April 06
10000
March 06 April 07

5000 March 07 April 08

0
On-Street Off-street

30
 Appendix G Enforcement & Parking Services Management Plan

ENFORCEMENT AND PARKING

SERVICES MANAGER

OFFICE MANAGER
OPERATIONS
MANAGER

Parking Enforcement Team Leader Penalty

Supervisors X 6 Processing X 1
Civil Enforcement Penalty Processing
Officers X 31 Officers X 7

Car Park Maintenance Team Leader

Engineers X 2 Administration & Permits
X1
Administrative Officers X
3
Environmental &
Highway Enforcement
Supervisor X 1
Civil Enforcement
Officer X 3 31
32