Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Westminster City Council
1. WESTMINSTER
CITY COUNCIL
PARKING BUDGET
During the oral evidence session on 7 December
2005, the City Council's budget forecasting for its Parking Service
was discussed.
I can clarify that I stated in the session (detailed
at question 78 of the transcript) that the City Council expects
to be £13 million below our original budget forecasts for
this financial year ending April 2006 (not £30 million as
recorded in the uncorrected evidence), as a result of the decisions
taken to create fairer policies for the motoring public. This
figure has improved slightly recently and now stands at approximately
£12.2 million (shown highlighted in the table below). This
surplus is made up of income accrued from meters, penalty charge
notices, clamps, removals, suspensions and permits less their
associated costs of running the services.
The City Council's forecasts and actual budgets
for our on-street and off-street parking income, including that
generated through Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), are summarised
in the following table.
|
| 2004-06 Budget
Actual
| Shortfall | 2005-06 Budget
|
|
| Forecast | Shortfall
| | | |
| |
| On-street income | £81.7m
| £74.3m | (£7.4m)
| £77.6m | £65.4m |
(£12.2m) |
| On-street penalty charge income | £44.3m
| £35.9m | (£8.4m)
| £40.3m | £31.7m |
(£8.6m) |
| On-street enforcement costs | £24.7m
| £22.9m |
| £24.5m | £23.5m |
|
| On-street enforcement surplus | £19.6m
| £13m | (£6.6m)
| £15.8m | £8.2m |
(£7.6m) |
| Off-street income | £20.0m
| £20.2m | £0.2m
| £20.8m | £20.2m |
(£600k) |
| Off-street penalty charge Income | £0m
| £0m |
| £0m | £0m |
|
| Off-street costs | £21.0m
| £20.6m |
| £20.8m | £20.2m |
(£0.6m) |
| Off-street surplus | (£1m)
| (£400k) |
| £0m | £0m |
|
|
Our original forecast for the on-street parking income surplus,
as a result of enforcement, in 2004-05 was £19.6 million.
Owing to the policy decisions we took in that year, the impact
of the introduction of the congestion charge, and other factors
affecting traffic flows into Westminster, the actual enforcement
surplus figure amounted to £13 million. A shortfall against
the original forecast of £6.6 million.
Turning to the current financial year, the original budget
forecast for on-street enforcement income surplus stood at £15.8
million. Our latest forecast for this surplus stands at £8.2
million, which will mean a shortfall of some £7.6 million
against the original budget. Once again, this figure reflects
the further steps we have taken to provide a more customer-orientated
parking service and additional falls in the amount of vehicular
traffic in the City.
Finally, as shown in the table, no income surplus is generated
through enforcement with respect to the City Council's off-street
parking service.
2. KERBSIDE SUSPENSIONS
Question 130 and 131 of the oral evidence transcript deal
with Westminster City Council's kerbside suspensions policy for
legitimate activities.
I am afraid that the City Council does not have sufficient
data to determine how often such suspensions involve incorrect
ticketing by parking attendants. However, we are in the process
of reviewing the cancellation codes used when overturning or annulling
penalty charge notices, and City Council officers are exploring
whether it may be possible to have a dedicated code for PCNs issued
in legitimately suspended parking bays or areas of kerbside. Please
note that if a suspension sign is not present then a PCN cannot
be served for that parking in that area, hence a Parking Attendant
would not know to do so.
The City Council has experienced a steady increase in the
demand for kerbside suspensions over recent years, and we are
determined to provide an efficient and effective system for our
residents and businesses in this respect. Since November 2005,
therefore, we have been actively collating photographic evidence
of kerbside suspensions as they are erected, with date and time
stamps. This provides us with a full record of the how the suspensions
are put in place and removed as well as their precise position
on the street. This information is of great assistance when dealing
with disputes. Additionally, since April 2005, our parking attendants
have been instructed to capture the suspension sign as one of
the images required for any PCN of this type, so we also have
this photographic evidence, which again helps considerably with
disputes.
30 January 2006
| 
