Annual parking report 2018-2019

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Our service: vision and mission
3. Parking
4. Mobility support
5. What concessionary travel and parking schemes do we offer?
6. Car clubs
7. Excellence achieved - awarded ISO 9001:2015
8. Customer compliments
9. Fraud team
10. Disabled Persons Freedom Pass
11. Statistical reporting
12. What’s next
13. Contact us

Introduction

The need for parking controls in Tower Hamlets is evident. Parking & Mobility Services helps to maintain a safe and efficient traffic flow across the borough, ensuring safe and fair parking for all stakeholders.

The Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) was implemented on 31 March 2008, allowing civil parking enforcement to be carried out by authorities across England and Wales.

The aim of the TMA is to provide a consistent set of regulations and procedures throughout England and Wales, while allowing parking policies to suit local circumstances. It also seeks to ensure that the system is fair to the motorist as well as effective in enforcing parking contraventions when they occur.

London authorities also have additional powers of enforcement that do not exist outside the capital. For example, only London authorities have legislation to cover enforcement of moving traffic contraventions and footway parking.

Guidance issued under the TMA states that enforcement authorities should publish an annual report six months after the end of the financial year.

This document covers all parking enforcement activity from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 as well as additional information on our service as a whole.

Our service: vision and mission

Our aim is to place the customer at the forefront of everything that we do whilst focusing on being transparent in overall service provision as well as operating efficiently and effectively to ensure value for money for the council, the residents of Tower Hamlets and the community that we serve.

Our vision and mission provides the goals for the service and gives a clear direction to staff and forms part of our service objectives.

Tower Hamlets Council is committed to the community and customers that it serves and this has been reflected in our vision and mission.

Our vision and mission

Our vision is for Parking & Mobility Services to be a flagship in service delivery by using the newest technology, being customer-focussed, transparent, robust in enforcement and efficient in overall service provision.

To do this, our mission is to:

• provide a range of concessionary travel and parking schemes to give residents with disabilities greater opportunities for independent travel
• create and maintain safe and efficient traffic flow through the borough
• provide and maintain the best possible parking infrastructure in terms of bays, signs and lines, payment options for parking and ICT
• provide safe and fair parking space for all road users in line with their needs, as well as easy access to that parking
• conduct effective and robust parking and traffic enforcement, from issuing PCNs to recovering debt
• consider complaints, comments and requests from customers and members professionally and transparently
• effectively deal with abandoned vehicles
• deliver high quality, customer focused processes and seek to improve continually
• support the council in retaining the Investors In People
• Our Customer Charter sets out our promises and commitments to all our customers and stakeholders and our aim to be transparent in delivering the services. It also sets out how we aim to deliver our services to the community.
• Our Charter can be found on our website and sets out our commitments to our customers and gives a clear direction for all our staff on our expectations.

Parking

Parking controls in Tower Hamlets are essential to keep traffic moving and create and maintain safe access for residents, visitors, businesses and all customers.

Tower Hamlets has an average population density of 149 persons/ha, the third most densely populated borough in London and the second highest of the inner London boroughs. The population has increased by 35.3% (79,603 people) over the past 10 years. The overall population increase for inner London was 16.5% over the same timeframe. This places significant pressure on existing transport infrastructure.

The net result of balancing the needs and expectations of all customers is that parking and traffic enforcement is now a significant activity for the council and consequently has great impact and immediate relevance to our residents, visitors and businesses.

A level of parking provision is important for the borough and for the convenience of residents and visitors alike. It must, however, be recognised that parking space and availability is directly linked to traffic volume, which is linked to traffic congestion, pollution and noise, as well as damaging health and climate change impacts. A careful balance must therefore be struck between parking provision, parking controls, levels of charges and enforcement. This is in order to ensure that we optimise the social, environmental and economic wellbeing for local citizens, as well as for sustainability and environmental issues.

The number of cars owned in borough has also risen sharply in the last five years, Reflected in increase in car parking permits from 30k in 2013/14 to 35k in 2018/19

Residential permits have also increased in the borough. There are approximately 25,000 marked bays for vehicle use of which around 22,000 are available for residential car parking. The space allocated for this is equivalent to an area half the size of Victoria Park and approximately 60-65% of kerbside space on roads in the borough.

This shows that although the borough has good transport links we are still experiencing high levels of vehicle use and need to manage this to ensure the network doesn’t get congested.

Mobility support

Parking & Mobility Services in Tower Hamlets continues to provide a range of concessionary travel and parking schemes to give residents with disabilities greater opportunities for independent travel.

The Mobility Support Team currently administers active Disabled Persons Freedom Passes which have a lifespan of 5 years. Each year approximately 6% of passes expire on 31 March and require a renewal process being implemented. However in 2020 due to historic reasons, some 76% of all passes will expire and the renewal process will be far larger than any since 2015 and will require early planning and extra staffing resources.

The Mobility Support budget for 2018/19 is £9,383,188 with a specific spend for Freedom Passes and Taxicards amounting to £9,202,902.

What concessionary travel and parking schemes do we offer?

Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass

The Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass is a travel permit for residents with disabilities. It is paid for by Tower Hamlets Council and allows free travel on London Underground; buses, DLR; trams and National Rail within Greater London.

Taxicard Scheme

The Taxicard scheme offers reduced fares in black cabs for people who have a long term or permanent illness or disability, which prevents them from using or significantly limits their use of public transport.

The cabs in the scheme carry ramps and are accessible to wheelchair user. Please note that the scheme is not available to people who suffer temporary disabilities, for example a broken leg.

The Taxicard may be used for any type of journey, for example shopping, visiting friends, GP appointments, but should not be used for hospital appointments, for which the health authority should provide transport.

Disabled Blue Badges

The Department for Transport are undergoing changes to the eligibility criteria for the Disabled Blue Badges. The legislation comes into force on the 30th of August 2019 to include those with a range of “hidden disabilities” to become eligible. A guidance report has recently been issued by the Department for Transport outlining the those applicants who may now become automatically eligible for a Blue Badge and indications are that there is likely to be a 30% increase in applicants becoming eligible.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets also provide a Personalised Disabled Bay which is a disabled parking bay provided near resident’s homes and residents with severe disabilities may be eligible to apply for one. Permits will generally only be issued to disabled drivers and are vehicle and bay specific. (No other permit or blue badge is valid for use within the allocated bay except the bay-specific permit.) There are no charges for a Personalised Disabled Bay.

Car clubs

A car club is a ‘demand-responsive’ service for self-drive vehicles. Designed for short-term journeys, the service gives the benefit of access to a vehicle only when it is required.

Tower Hamlets Council operates under the following models

• Individual Fixed-Point Model, where vehicles taken from a reserved parking place and either returned to the same place or left at another fixed location.
• Individual Free-Floating Model, where vehicles are parked in any permitted on-street parking place, scheme users pick up the vehicle and return it to any other permitted parking place.

Once registered, scheme users usually book a vehicle, locate it and unlock it using a mobile phone application. This application can then be used to report faults or damage to the vehicle, provide scheme users of the cost and duration of their use and make payments.

Current position

The following tables show the operators, operating model, commencement date and contract revenue for each model:

Zipcar reports a 41% increase in membership on the previous year, now representing over 15,000 members, and an average utilisation rate of 38%, representing circa 9 hours usage per day.

DriveNow has over 3,000 members and an utilisation rate of 15%.

Ubeeqo were not able to provide the latest information in time for submission in this report, though their most recent report of December 2018 shows a membership of 422 and an utilisation rate of 8% in Tower Hamlets.

There are Traffic Management Orders in place for the two car clubs that operate the fixed point model. This model has been implemented to work on a traditional permit application process, where the permit is issued to the dedicated vehicle for its bay. The permit also confers the terms and conditions of a resident permit on to the vehicle, including the three-hour concession to park in other zones.

A Service Level Agreement is in place with the three car clubs that operate the free-floating model. Parking & Mobility Services has regular performance meetings with the three car club operators. Officers will be able to provide more in-depth analysis of the performance for Members if required.

In addition, officers have commenced negotiations with another car company that uses this model.

An advertisement was sent to all car clubs that were ‘Carplus’ accredited to apply for the scheme in the borough. It was agreed with Legal and Procurement that the allocation will be entirely at the discretion of the council and will be issued on a first come, first served basis due to limited availability.

Next steps

Once adopted, the Transport Strategy and associated policies will provide key themes and objectives, which will likely include a review of how the council manages car clubs.

There is also an option of a fixed point model run by individual businesses, where they have access to off-street parking spaces of their own and can lease their own vehicles. As these would be private ventures by those businesses, the council would not be involved in setting up or managing such schemes however it could give consideration to promoting or facilitating their use.

Excellence achieved - awarded ISO 9001:2015

The service began working towards ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) in March 2013. We are proud that Parking & Mobility Services received a positive recommendation from British Assessment Bureau (BAB) and has continued to achieve ISO standard for 5 years running with our recent certificate being received in September 2018. ISO 9001:2015 is more comprehensive than 9001:2008 and Parking & Mobility Services achieved it on first attempt.

ISO was established in 1947 and is the world’s most widely recognised Quality Management standard. It is a standard designed to create a more disciplined work environment that will save time and cost by reducing errors whilst helping to improve customer satisfaction, which is a key element of being a flagship service.

BAB is the world’s most widely recognised quality management standard and when the principles of quality management are adopted, companies or departments benefit from more efficient ways of working, better cost control and fast and more effective implementation of new working practices.

The certification of compliance with ISO 9001 recognizes that the policies, practices and procedures of Parking & Mobility Services ensure consistent quality in the services and work products that it provides to its customers and stakeholders.

Reaching this standard is another milestone for both the council and Parking & Mobility Services and highlights a commitment to excellence and delivery a quality service that is continually improving.

This achievement is an important step in assuring that customers that use or make contact with the Parking & Mobility Services receive the very best in quality. With independent registration of the service by an outside auditor, Parking & Mobility Services can now demonstrate that it is committed to the highest standards throughout its operations, management and service delivery.

Customer compliments

“I just wanted to say thank you very much for your help during the process of removing the parking bay. I really appreciated you both keeping me updated during the process. Wishing you all the best. “

“Thank you so much for your fast analysis, response and complete resolution. I’m rather impressed and pleased. I do understand now that I’d had two contraventions but the first had never been served/delivered to me... They were both at the same place near my home where I didn’t know I was committing contravention and of course never will again after I received the first PCN... “

“Bob is always so helpful when you need Parking advice. He recently helped with parking issues relating to a new development, by coming out on site to meet me within 1 day of speaking to him, meaning my work had minimal delay.”

“Well done and so true, you are an asset to the service. “

“I would really like to thank John for his personal contribution to the event management of the recent London Event Ltd Half Marathon which took place in the St Katherine’s & Wapping district. He and his team ensured the road closures/ parking suspensions affecting residents was carried out on a timely basis, providing sufficient notice which resulted in a smooth operation with little or no complaints arising and minimising inconvenience. Thank you for your dedication and willingness on this task. “

“Thanks a million. You are too good and an employee of the year in my eyes. “

“I reported an illegally parked vehicle after 11:30am today. It was towed away around 3:15pm. I just wanted to thank you for such an efficient service. “

“Many thanks for finally resolving this matter Pearl, your assistance has been invaluable. and much appreciated.”

Fraud team

The parking fraud team has two full time dedicated members of staff.

The parking fraud team operate a joint working effort with the police, CEO’s and removal team and look into all aspects of fraud including permits and Blue badges.

The parking fraud team will continue throughout 2018/2019 to work jointly with the police and CEO’s to ensure the appropriate action is taken when fraudulent activity is recognised.

The team also support the retrieval of stolen mobility vehicles and seizure of blue badges when being wrongly used.

In 2018/19 the team:

• Seized 175 fraudulent Blue Badges
• 5 cautions were given
• 60 parking permits cancelled

3 prosecutions were undertaken by the team and 3 appeals at the high court all ending with the perpetrator paying fines, costs and victim surcharges.

Disabled Persons Freedom Pass

If you have an eligible disability and are a permanent resident in a London borough, you can apply for a freedom pass to help you get around London.

The travel pass for disabled people enables you to travel free within the Freedom Pass boundary on London’s public transport. This includes buses, tubes, National Rail, Docklands Light Railway and Trams. Find out more.

Statistical reporting

Parking & Mobility Services would like to share the following statistical data for the period 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019.

Top 20 locations for PCNs issued and income received

What’s next

We are developing a five year parking strategy for 2019-2024. This strategy will identify key components for supporting the aims and objectives of Tower Hamlets Transport Strategy.

The strategy will also establish our vision and mission and support the service to promote transparency and defined service standards to manage customer expectations.

Contact us

Parking & Mobility Services Mulberry Place PO Box 55739 5 Clove Crescent London E14 1BY

Parking helpline: 020 7364 5000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)