Contact: Jonathan Crabb, ext 6047

1. Summary

1.1 This report informs the Panel of the recent decisions taken by the Executive Member for Environment on decriminalised parking powers within the borough of Eastleigh.

1.2 It also provides an update on the latest position of New Forest District Council and Test Valley Borough Council with regard to the taking on of powers of decriminalised parking enforcement.

2. Borough of Eastleigh

2.1 In September 2002 the Borough Council's Executive Committee considered the consultant's findings and gave permission to request approval to proceed with the implementation of the Special Parking Area.

2.2 At the last meeting a report was submitted from the Borough Council's Head of Engineering that recommended to the Executive Member for Environment that capital funding and powers be made available to enable Eastleigh Borough Council to proceed with decriminalised parking enforcement.

2.3 The report, attached as an appendix, was submitted to the Executive Member for Environment on 14 January 2003, and the following decisions were made:

(i) That approval be given for an application to the Secretary of State to designate the Borough of Eastleigh as a Special Parking Area and Permitted Parking Area pursuant to Section 43 and Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

(ii) That, under Section 19 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Authorities (Arrangements for Discharge of Functions) Regulations 2000, a separate Agreement be completed between the County Council and Eastleigh


Borough Council to delegate the functions and services given to the County Council by the Secretary of State in designating the area as a Special Parking Area/Permitted Parking Area.

2.4 On 24 January 2003 the Executive Member for Environment approved the capital programme allocation of £125,000 for the Eastleigh Borough Council decriminalisation as part of the South West Hampshire Transport capital programme for 2003/04.

2.5 Hampshire County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council both resolved to transfer on-street enforcement powers to the Borough of Eastleigh through the appropriate legislation, and it is expected for these powers to be implemented in October 2004.

2.6 The County Council will have an agency agreement with Eastleigh Borough Council for the delegation of responsibilities for all aspects of the implementation and delegated powers of enforcement. The Borough Council will also contribute at least £54,265.

2.7 Due to the complexity of the project, work has already started, with the appointment of a project manager and a borough-wide review of the signs and lines and road traffic regulation orders. There will be further work being undertaken in the next two financial years, such as training and upgrading of the notice processing system.

3. Test Valley

3.1 Test Valley Borough Council previously sought permission to take on powers, and a contribution of £47,000 has been provided from the County Council's capital programme to aid the set-up costs of the project.

3.2 A further report has been written seeking delegation and approval, which will be presented to the Borough Council's Executive Committee on 12 February 2003. An officer steering group has been set up with membership from Test Valley Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Constabulary. The implementation date has been set for 20 October 2003.

4. New Forest

4.1 New Forest District Council has received a consultant's report on the viability of taking on the powers of decriminalised enforcement within the borough. A report will be presented to this Panel once the District Council has decided upon its course of action.

Recommendation

That the report be noted.

7776/JC

APPENDIX

Contact: Jonathan Crabb, ext 6047

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That approval be given for an application to the Secretary of State to designate the Borough of Eastleigh as a Special Parking Area and Permitted Parking Area pursuant to Section 43 and Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

(ii) That, under Section 19 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Authorities (Arrangements for Discharge of Functions) Regulations 2000, a separate Agreement be completed between the County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council to delegate the functions and services given to the County Council by the Secretary of State in designating the area as a Special Parking Area/Permitted Parking Area.

2. Reason

2.1 A study undertaken into the feasibility of decriminalised parking enforcement in Eastleigh concluded that creation of the Special Parking Area is financially viable within a timescale of five years and is operationally desirable, given the limited enforcement currently being undertaken by the police and the level of illegal parking in Eastleigh and the surrounding area.

2.2 Appendix 1 details the costs of the project, with the South West Hampshire Transportation Panel report of 24 October 2002 attached as Appendix 2. A copy of the Borough Council's Cabinet report into Decriminalisation is attached as Appendix 3, with the Executive Summary from their consultants' report providing the case for taking on decriminalised parking enforcement as Appendix 4. This will also contribute towards achieving the objectives of the South West Hampshire Transport Strategy, through better control of parking.

2.3 Further details of reasons can be found in the attached appendices.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Taking no action.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

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

7647/JC

APPENDIX 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.

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.

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 previous 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.

Joint Working with District Councils

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.

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

On 12 March 2001 a recommendation was approved by the former Planning and Transportation Committee for the establishment of SPAs/PPAs in Hart and Rushmoor. Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) became successfully operational on 5 June 2002 in both of these areas. Test Valley and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Councils have also embarked on a similar scheme.

Eastleigh Borough Council is now keen to proceed with the adoption of these powers under agreement with the County Council. The Borough Council has resolved to take on decriminalised parking enforcement for the borough. A sum of £179,265 has been estimated to meet the capital set-up costs for implementation in the Borough of Eastleigh. Of this sum, £54,265 is allocated from the Borough Council's own strategy contributions and £125,000 is proposed over two years from the County Council's Area Transport Strategy programmes. Specific funding requirement is being considered for approval through another report and is detailed in Appendix 1.

The capital set-up costs are not formally recovered as such, but if there is a surplus in the long run, whether greater or less than the set-up costs, the County Council would decide how it is spent.

PCN change is agreed by the County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council within the legal options and discount is a standard 50%. The level of enforcement is decided by Eastleigh Borough Council as part of its operation to make the system at least self-financing. The appeals process will be dealt with by the National Parking Adjudication Service.

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 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, Hart and Rushmoor, separate agency arrangements were established to manage on-street parking enforcement, in addition to existing agency agreements. These included appropriate financial provisions, establishing the aim of a self-financing operation and methods of dealing with any surplus or deficit. It is proposed that similar arrangements be adopted in Eastleigh.

The Next Steps

The extension of decriminalised parking enforcement to Eastleigh will involve a great deal of preliminary work by both County and District officers in assessing costs, income, staff requirements, administrative arrangements, training, etc, and preparing the necessary Agency Agreement and application to the Department for Transport. These elements must all be in place by the time the new arrangements come into effect.

Conclusion

Following the successful operation of the enforcement arrangements in Winchester, the recent extension of these powers to Hart and Rushmoor and the implementation shortly in Test Valley and Basingstoke and Deane, it is considered appropriate to continue preparations towards an application to the Secretary of State for an SPA and PPA in Eastleigh as part of the County Council's programme. A high standard of enforcement of parking controls can make a valuable contribution to achieving the objectives of the transport strategy.