Councillor Roy Connelly - New Parking Regulations

New parking regulations & enforcement in Devon

A Guide to Civil Parking Enforcement

What is Civil Parking Enforcement?

Civil Parking Enforcement is the term given to the transfer of powers from the Police to local authorities to enforce parking offences arising from the Traffic Management Act 2004.
Traffic wardens, working for the Police, will be replaced by Civil Enforcement Officers, working for local authorities.
Civil Parking Enforcement must include both on-street and off-street enforcement.

Why is Civil Parking Enforcement important to Devon County Council?

New regulations from April 2008 will bring parking enforcement under the Traffic Management Act 2004, the aim of which is to assist the movement of traffic within and across local authority boundaries.
Transferring the powers from the Police to local authorities will allow the police to focus on tackling more serious crimes.
Without parking enforcement, the objectives of the Devon Local Transport Plan 2006-2011 could be compromised.

What is Devon County Council doing to get ready for the transfer of powers?

Following agreement from Executive in November 2007, the Director of Environment, Economy & Culture was given approval to submit a joint formal application (with Districts) to the Department for Transport in December for the transfer of enforcement powers. Delegated powers were also given to ensure the transition takes place as efficiently as possible.
As Civil Parking Enforcement must include both on and off-street operations, joint working arrangements with District partners (who already enforce off-street parking) via agency agreements are being pursued.
Working with District partners provides the scope for significant efficiency savings.
Modelling has been undertaken to identify the potential numbers of Civil Enforcement Officers required to provide an efficient and high quality service at the outset.

How will Civil Parking Enforcement work in practice?

Many existing traffic wardens will transfer from the Police to District Councils and become Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs), the remainder will be recruited. All CEOs (this will include District staff that enforce off-street parking at present) will be trained identically to ensure a consistent countywide service.
CEOs will patrol streets with pay & display parking, residents parking schemes, double yellow lines and other parking restrictions as well as the off-street car parks. They will check whether cars are parked appropriately, and issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) to parked vehicles which are breaking the parking rules.
Civil Enforcement Officers will not only issue PCNs – they will also give directions, advise on where to park legally, and act as the “eyes and ears” for local authorities for a range of services, including reporting faults and maintaining pay & display machines.
Under the new regulations, PCNs will be set at two levels - £70 and £50 - but these are reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days. The proceeds will be used to fund the service, with any remainder being used to fund local road improvements.
In some instances local authorities have contracted out services to private firms, often with specific service level agreements and targets to be met. For some this has been seen as a draconian profit-driven system. This will not be the case in Devon.
In the early period of operation there will be a soft approach and offenders will be issued with warnings not PCNs.
Depending upon the offence there will be a ‘grace’ period, for example enforcement officers will not issue a PCN the moment an individual’s parking ticket runs out.
While enforcement will be Countywide, at certain times of day it is likely that enforcement will focus on where there is most need, for example busy arterial routes.

Advantages of Civil Parking Enforcement to Devon County Council

Devon County Council will be able to ensure that parking policies are implemented effectively, with consequent benefits through improved traffic flow, fewer accidents, a fairer distribution of available parking places and a more pleasant environment.
The benefits of such a system will include greater enforcement of residential parking areas, for example where commuters are illegally parking all day. Likewise, where there are waiting restrictions in High Streets these will be enforced resulting in a greater turnover of spaces and as a consequence, scope for businesses to maximise trade.
The integration of enforcement and parking policy responsibilities should provide better monitoring of the effectiveness and value of parking controls, so that parking provision becomes more responsive to the public's needs.
Devon County Council may use any revenue it receives from enforcement to fund those enforcement activities, with any surplus being used to for road improvements.
In time, single visit enforcement will improve the efficiency of the scheme because to effectively enforce limited waiting at the moment, two timed visits are needed. Single visit enforcement will be aided by; residents parking permits (which if displayed are proof of eligibility); solid yellow line systems which will clearly state when parking is not permitted; and pay and display schemes which will provide the proof of parking eligibility with a valid ticket.

When will Civil Parking be introduced and what will happen in the interim?

Devon County Council is working to a ‘go live’ date of Summer 2008.
The Police have given assurances that in any interim period between transfer of staff and ‘go live’, Police Community Safety Officers would be able to enforce on-street restrictions.
The likely timing of staff transfer to Districts is to coincide with the Summer start date.