Archived decisions

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1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

That approval be given, in principle, to the establishment of Special and Permitted Parking Areas in Basingstoke and Deane under the 1991 Road Traffic Act and a further report be submitted in due course.

2. Reason

2.1 To enable decriminalised parking enforcement to be introduced in Basingstoke and Deane and, under a separate agency arrangement, to authorise the Borough Council to manage both the on-street and off-street parking enforcement.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 No other suitable option.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member Officer Consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Scheme

7.1 Introduction

The 1991 Road Traffic Act enables the highway authority to apply for approval of Special Parking Areas (SPAs) and Permitted Parking Areas (PPAs). In PPAs, contraventions of orders designating permitted on-street parking places (eg meter bays, and residents' and disabled persons' bays) will no longer be criminal offences and will become subject to the new enforcement arrangements. In SPAs the same arrangements apply to all other non-endorsable parking offences (eg contraventions of road traffic regulation orders prohibiting or restricting parking). In most cases the boundaries of SPAs and PPAs will be the same.

7.2 In Special and Permitted Parking Areas:

(i) the local authority can issue and charge for permits;

(ii) the local authority can enforce parking restrictions, including yellow line restrictions;

(iii) the local authority receives the income from penalties;

(iv) the parking service should be self-financing; and

(v) parking enforcement is managed and prioritised by the local authority.

7.3 The legislation decriminalises parking offences, and all income from charges and excess charges is accrued by the local authority to offset enforcement costs. Any surplus can be used to enhance the parking service. Under the old legislation, income from enforcement of yellow line offences goes straight to the exchequer and is not available for the Police to plough back into the enforcement service.

8. Joint Working with District Councils

8.1 Several of the district councils in Hampshire expressed interest in participating with the County Council to take up these powers and carry out enforcement of on-street restrictions in their areas. Arrangements were agreed with Winchester City Council, linked to the Winchester Movement and Access Plan proposals, to create an SPA/PPA to enforce all parking restrictions within the Winchester District area. These arrangements came into effect in 1996 and have proved successful in practice.

8.2 The Chief Constable supported the introduction of the new powers in the Winchester City area and, following the experience gained in this area since 1996, has no objection in principle to the extension of these arrangement to other districts in the county.

8.3 Hart District Council and Rushmoor Borough Council are, at present, actively pursuing Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) with the cooperation of the County Council. On 12 March 2001 a recommendation was approved by the former Planning and Transportation Committee for agreement, in principle, to the establishment of SPAs/PPAs in Hart and Rushmoor.

8.4 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is now keen to proceed with the adoption of these powers under agreement with the County Council. A sum of £75,000 has been recommended for inclusion in the report to the Basingstoke Environmental Strategy for Transport (BEST) Panel to meet the capital set up costs for the implementation of DPE in the district of Basingstoke and Deane. It is proposed the DPE will be included in the current BEST programme and introduced in the district in late 2002.

8.5 One of the main benefits of this proposal is that it should ensure that enforcement of on-street and off-street parking is carried out in the same way, to the same standards, by the same authority. The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions' (DTLR) guidelines to local authorities therefore acknowledge that it will normally be sensible for enforcement to be carried out by district councils. However, since the traffic authority is the County Council, there needs to be formal agreement between the County and District Councils as to how the enforcement will be implemented. In Winchester a separate agency arrangement was established to manage on-street parking enforcement, in addition to existing agency arrangements. This included appropriate financial provisions, establishing the aim of a self-financing operation and methods of dealing with any surplus of deficit. It is proposed that similar arrangements be adopted in Basingstoke and Deane.

9. The Next Steps

9.1 The extension of decriminalised parking enforcement to Basingstoke and Deane will involve a great deal of preliminary work by both the County and District officers in assessing costs, income, staff requirements, administrative arrangements, training, etc, and preparing the necessary application to the DTLR. These elements must all be in place by the time the new arrangements come into effect. Further reports will be required to both County and District committees before final decisions are made and any application is made to the Secretary of State.

10. Conclusion

10.1 Following the successful operation of the enforcement arrangements in Winchester, and in view of the proposals for the extension of these powers by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, it is considered appropriate to continue preparations towards a possible application to the Secretary of State for an SPA and PPA in Basingstoke and Deane, as part of the BEST programme. A high standard of enforcement of parking controls can make a valuable contribution to achieving the objectives of the transport strategy.

10.2 Detailed management and financial arrangements remain to be discussed. Following approval in principle, this work will be undertaken and will be the subject of a further report in due course.

6726/RJH