Suggestions for Barnet council parking policy

Preamble.
The purpose of penalty charges is to dissuade motorists from breaking parking restrictions.
The objective is 100% compliance, ith no penalty charges.
Source! Secretary of State for Transport.
"y policy suggestions are divided, as far as they can be, into stages of the process.
Before any PCN is issued
#ave a choice of payment methods to provide for the needs of all customers. $ayBy$hone,
cash at a meter, vouchers, credit card at a meter %insert and contactless&, $ay$oint, 'yster
and(or Barnet $ayment card %a Barnet $ayment )ard could take the place of cash
completely provided it as fle*ible enough i.e. it must not have a cost to provide and can be
charged up ith any payment amount, is idely available and the nearest stockist is
signposted at every bay here payment is re+uired&.
,on-t issue $). on Bank #olidays e*cept for on crossing /ig0/ags and dropped kerbs on
re+uest by a resident.
1educe the hours during hich $). are issued. Traffic ardens should not be roaming the
streets from 2am to 11pm.
Stop treating the Special $arking 3ccount %S$3& as a target i.e. if +uarterly projections sho
it ill be missed, don-t take steps to generate missed income from elsehere.
,on-t issue 4isitor 4ouchers ith a 5 year life. The money paid for them didn-t e*pire.
6ssue all correctly applied for permits and blue badges in 78 hours.
'rganise courses on ho to park legally in order to help people to comply ith hat is a
comple* parking regime.
1emove the )$9 entry signs %e*cept the Saracens :, /one& and put signs on all single
yello lines. 'nly 10% of the borough has a )$9 and they are idely misunderstood or the
entry signs are missed.
1educe the vast si/e of the Saracens :, /one and change the time of it to one hour at the
usual kick0off time.
"ake a note of vehicles parked that ould be in contravention if still there hen the
suspension sign is erected so that any $). issued to them can be cancelled. $ut up clearer
suspension signs as ones that say 7 bays outside numbers * and y of a street ill not be
clear if three cars could park outside those to residences.
$ublish the list of pavement parking locations hich are not enforced even though the
pavement is not marked out for them. This as promised to me in the :nvironment
)ommittee meeting of 78 ;uly 7018.
<se some of the S$3 surplus to educate drivers about the most common parking errors. #o
many motorists, for e*ample, kno that you can-t park on the pavement, e*cept here
marked out, anyhere in =ondon> .ot enough given the number of $). hich are issued
for this contravention.
Traffic wardens (CEO)
,on-t issue a $). for a missing registration mark off a parking voucher %especially if it is only
for 1 hour as it isn-t very likely to be re0used& and remove the re+uirement from the ne*t print
run.
,on-t issue a $). for a 4isitor 4oucher that is out of date and remove the e*piry date %5
years& from the ne*t print run.
"ake less use of 1egulation 10 %drive0aay& $). as inade+uate observation time is being
given as to hat the motorist as doing.
3llo 18 days grace for an e*pired resident permit. ?ive the car a leaflet that the permit has
e*pired.
?ive 10 minutes grace for all offences %e*cept on crossing /ig0/ags and genuinely
dangerous parking&.
6ssue a arning for minor contraventions if the driver returns. %$ara 80 Sec of State
?uidance&.
,on-t issue a $). for being outside the bay marking hen the to halves of the car are both
in bays hich the car is entitled to be in.
,on-t let traffic ardens park their car or scooter in any manner other than legally %although
ithout payment is '@&
,on-t issue code 78 $). %not parked correctly ithin the markings of the bay or space&
unless one heel is holly outside the parking bay %=ondon )ouncils ):' handbook&
,on-t issue $). in the first or last 7 minutes of a restriction %=ondon )ouncils ):'
handbook&.
,on-t issue $). for being parked on the footay unless a coomplete heel is on the
footay, not just partially on the kerb.
$rovide offices at hich cash payments of $). can be made.
,on-t issue a $). here the signs or lines are clearly defective 0 report them instead.
Back office
)ancel a $). if it turns out that a valid permit e*ists but asn-t on display for some reason.
6f the traffic arden has this information about there being a permit he should not issue a
$). in the first place.
)ancel the $). if there is a delay in processing at any stage of A months %this is the la for
a .otice to 'ner to be issued& i.e.
1 beteen the .otice to 'ner and the )harge )ertificate
7 beteen the )harge )ertificate and the .otice of 1ecovery
5 beteen the .otice of 1ecovery and instructing the bailiff
3ccept reasonable instalments if offered up to say A months. These motorists ould not
+ualify for the B0% prompt payment discount.
Crite a policy about ho vulnerable individuals should be treated.
)ancel $). here the rong vehicle or rong location has been paid for.
)ancel all permit issue delay $)..
)ancel $). if a permit reminder as not sent.
)ancel a $). issued ithin the Saracens :, /one to any motorist ho is resident ithin it
and issue a permit to them and tell them about visitor vouchers.
6nform all medical orkers ho challenge a $). on the grounds that they ere attending to
a sick patient about the #ealth :mergency badge scheme in case they may +ualify for it.
,o a ,4=3 address check at both the )harge )ertificate and 'rder for 1ecovery stages as
people move a lot and otherise may not receive these vital documents. 6 think the cost is
about 70p per application.
Tell motorists if their formal representations are being disregarded as being outside the 7D
day time limit from service of the .otice to 'ner.
"ake the decision about all challenges in0house as the la re+uires %even if .S= then issue
the decision&
$ut the email address on the $). %para 20 of Sec of State guidance& and provide a
telephone number for the use of the disabled ho may not be able to communicate in riting.
$roduce an 3nnual 1eport %$ara 118 Sec of State guidance&.
6f the council get it rong, apologise sincerely and compensate the motorist.
Eind out hy regular offenders are regular and offer them help and advice to avoid parking
rongly rather than clamping and(or removing the vehicle and negotiate settlement of their
outstanding $). by agreement if possible. Four poer should be ielded ith discretion.
6f a motorist tells the council that the )harge )ertificate is the first notice received the council
should offer the opportunity to pay the $). at the full rate %not G(0 B0%& %para 778 =ondon
)ouncils )ode of $ractice&
<pdate the cancellation policy that as used prior to .S= being contracted %copy attached&.
Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) - Northamton County Court
,on-t oppose out of time itness statements here the customer says they have not
received documents and are not clearly lying.
The council is alloed nearly a month to decide upon these. ,uring this time the motorist
may have been deprived of his car. The policy should be to decide upon them ithin 8D
hours.
3 council officer should decide on these, not a contractor.
Bailiffs
,on-t send bailiffs to 'ld 3ge $ensioners, Blue Badge #olders or "otability car drivers as
they are a vulnerable section of society and other methods ould be better i.e. phone them
up if they don-t pay to see hat the problem is. 3 bailiff is not meant to take a car of a blue
badge holder and certainly can-t touch a "otability car as it doesn-t belong to the debtor so
avoid error and put temptation out of the bailiff-s ay.
$arking management, not .S=, should monitor the activities and charges of bailiffs to make
sure they behave in a proper manner and do not overcharge.
)ases should be sent to bailiffs every month and ithout delay once the process of
challenge has been e*hausted.
Before instructing a bailiff in a case here the motorist has not engaged in the process at all
make telephone, postal %Signed Eor service& or even personal contact ith the motorist to
find out hy they have not responded. They may have moved aay, had an accident or died.
"anagement should monitor the success rate of each firm of bailiffs. 3 success rate of 12%
as in :nfield %Barnet-s not knon but likely to be e+ually dire& is no success at all. :ither the
bailiff is cherry picking the cases they are pursuing or the +uality of hat they are being given
is too lo.
,o not allo a parking enforcement contractor to use a bailiff that they on or a sister
company as there is an inherent conflict of interest if the parking enforcement contractor
makes the decision as to hether or not a particular car can be removed. 6n addition it is not
possible for the parking enforcement contractor to independently investigate a complaint
about a bailiff. The council should in any case make the investigation, using an independent
person to make a recommendation, as they oe a duty of care for the behaviour of their
bailiff %the arrant is in the name of the council&.
Bailiffs have to take care of goods in their possession. 'ne that as impounded for more
than A months as not ashed, its tyres ere alloed to deflate and the battery as
discharged and had to be replaced. This re+uirement should be stipulated in bailiff contracts
%even though it is a ell knon re+uirement&.
6f the council decides to release a vehicle that has been impounded ithout payment, the
council should deliver the vehicle back rather than make the motorist collect it from .a/eing
%here .elyn send vehicles to be stored&.