HC Made £1.9 Million Profit From Parking Charges!

[Bill Thomas]

HEREFORDSHIRE Council made £1.9 million profit in car parking charges in 2013/14 - more than £300k than the previous year.

 

 

In figures released by the RAC Foundation, Herefordshire Council was 89th out of 353 authorities in the amount it made from parking tickets, permits and penalties.

 

It collected £1,880,000 in the last tax year compared to 1,563,000 in 2012/13.

 

Overall in 2013/14 councils in England made £667 million from their day to day, on and off street parking operations. After capital charges the net surplus was £549 million.

 

By law any surplus must be used for transport projects.

 

The figures are taken from an RAC Foundation report - based on financial returns sent from local councils to the government

 

While some of the increase in surplus is down to rising income, there is also evidence many councils are cutting operating costs.

 

The authority with the largest surplus in 2013-14 was, once again, Westminster with £51 million.

 

From this HT article

[Jonny]

This is really positive news, now put it to good use by investing in better public transport.

[twowheelsgood]

I think you'll find the only 'transport projects' this cabinet understand are swathes of tarmac through ancient forests.

[greenknight]

I'm one of those dumb knights who parks his stead only to realize that he does not have the correct change paying over the odds once again for his bit of turf. I kick myself and the horse every time but I'm not bothered ...but this will change particularly if the money is reinvested into crazy projects such as the suggested grief road....sorry southern relief road.

[Jonny]

Hmmm, I don't think building a relief road classifies as public transport.

[twowheelsgood]

Hmmm, I don't think building a relief road classifies as public transport.

 

HT says 'By law any surplus must be used for transport projects' - I take it that doesn't specifically mean public transport. That would exclude for instance, cycle paths, pedestrian routes - you know, the things that were promised as part of the relief road proposal at consultation stage and then deleted, along with bus lanes and more. 

[Ubique]

"They" have been building a cycle track alone the Roman Rd from the Starting Gate East towards Worcester for a distance of approx. 800m . It appears to have taken " them " at least 6 weeks to date , oh ! and it's not finished yet . As a layman let me tell you what they are doing , " they " are wideing the footpath which runs alone the Wiggins business by about 18 inches. You might ask if since they started work have I seen a cyclist using the Roman Rd. Eh ! NO ......so it appears to me , a layman who gave up cycling a few years ago that it's a complete waste of money - previously cyclist used the footpath at no harm to themselves or the non existent

Pedestrians - money wasted in my mind.

[greenknight]

What it defined as public transport because most of this is in private hands e.g. buses.The council has been making this profit for a while but it hasn't stopped the axe falling on many rural bus routes. So what else is there...railways. Well that's in another forum. Perhaps we should subsidize taxis!

[ragwert]

"They" have been building a cycle track alone the Roman Rd from the Starting Gate East towards Worcester for a distance of approx. 800m . It appears to have taken " them " at least 6 weeks to date , oh ! and it's not finished yet . As a layman let me tell you what they are doing , " they " are wideing the footpath which runs alone the Wiggins business by about 18 inches. You might ask if since they started work have I seen a cyclist using the Roman Rd. Eh ! NO ......so it appears to me , a layman who gave up cycling a few years ago that it's a complete waste of money - previously cyclist used the footpath at no harm to themselves or the non existent

Pedestrians - money wasted in my mind.

It would of been a better idea to have put an extra lane in here for vehicles and put the cycle lane on the other side of the road.

[twowheelsgood]

It would of been a better idea to have put an extra lane in here for vehicles and put the cycle lane on the other side of the road.

 

Different pots of money - different departments - different egos - same lack of joined up thinking, same box ticking, same spending money for the sake of it, just to get more next year. Repeat annually, return some years later, dig up and build something different.

[Jonny]

They put in cycle lanes where its easy to do so, not where its needed, that way they can impress central govt. With how many miles of cycle track they have laid.

 

Honestly with all these cuts that are happening its cuts to bus services that has me most concerend, I'm really anxious about it. My wife cannot drive, never will be able too, if the buses go we will have to move house.

[megilleland]

Apcoa: Parking ticket company paid £2 commission by Gloucestershire County Council for each penalty charge notice

Apcoa, a German company that issues parking tickets for local authorities, has been accused of being “incentivised†to fine motorists under its contractual arrangements with one of the country’s biggest councils. 

 

A contract between Apcoa and Gloucestershire County Council, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that Apcoa is paid “a fixed sum†of £2 for each penalty charge notice (PCN) that is “closed and fully paidâ€. Apcoa denies this is an incentive and says the fee covers administration costs. 

 

Campaigners and MPs are now demanding to know if this payment structure is applied elsewhere and with other contractors to the public sector. Apcoa, which describes itself as the “UK’s leading provider of tailored parking solutionsâ€, works in more than 150 locations across the country, providing security and issuing tickets for councils and businesses. 

 

Another good example of privatisation in action. This company is not operating in car parks in Herefordshire - yet!

[megilleland]

Just to bring you up to date.

The use of surplus funds

The use of any surplus funds is governed by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended by Section 95 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, this states that any surplus in parking revenue accounts, after the cost of running the schemes has been covered can be spent on:

* Providing additional parking facilities

* Public transport schemes

* Highway improvements

* Road maintenance

* Environmental improvements

Income that the council receives from car parking does not have to be 'ring-fenced' for spending in the areas detailed above. The surplus in 2017/18 contributed towards highways and transport services costs.

[Roger]

Employee costs: £478,643 ...... That averages out at about 24 people being paid £20k each per year to manage the whole system. If everyone was paid the same. That is managers/enforcers/clerical. Sounds very dubious accounting to me. I would like to see a breakdown of those employee costs'. And what does 'support services' mean? Is that a manager salary moved into another column on the spreadsheet? Who knows!? 

[Ubique]

From BBC webpage 14/10/19

For info ....... Don't know if All Parking Services UK were " supervising " any Hereford private car parks .

A private parking ticket company allowed a fine to be issued without proper checks being carried out, an undercover BBC investigation has found.
All Parking Services UK Ltd sent signs to journalists without identity checks, leading to a car owner being sent a £100 fine for parking in Newport.
The firm has been suspended by the DVLA and the British Parking Association (BPA) is investigating.
All Parking Services said it was co-operating with investigations.
The company can no longer issue tickets after it was suspended by the DVLA.
BBC Wales' X-Ray found companies were offering free "self-ticketing" services, allowing landlords to police their own land by taking photographs of cars parked there.
Firms would then access DVLA data and issue tickets to the offending drivers, offering cash incentives for each ticket issued.
■   Driver amasses £32,000 in parking fines
■   Man sits in car for 30 hours to prevent towing
■   Police car threatened with clamping
The investigation found Chester-based Park Watch did not make any requests for evidence of land ownership and a false address was provided. 
It also asked for a map of the area, but accepted a Google Maps screen-grab with a hand-drawn line around it, and also made an appointment to install signs which were said to have cost £200.
Manchester-based All Parking Services sent signs in the post without checking identity or the right to issue tickets.
One of the signs was put up behind a parked car in Newport, with investigators using an app to enter details of the car's supposed location and the time of the so-called offence. 
The driver was then issued a £100 parking ticket in the post. 
Both companies were approved operators of the BPA and required to abide by a code of practice. 
Jack Cousens, head of road policy for the AA, said: "Somebody should've stepped in and said 'we haven't got the right documentation, we just can't let you go ahead'. That is just simply unacceptable.
"Those who are overseeing the code of conduct have got to tighter regulate those companies that they have under their banner and make sure that they're doing those checks and balances even before they're setting up new sites."
Park Watch, a trading name of Defence Systems Ltd, said it would have made all the necessary checks on its identity before it was allowed to issue any tickets.
The BPA is investigating and will consider sanctions which could include expelling companies.
The DVLA said it had already suspended All Parking Services so it can no longer issue parking tickets, but refused to comment on the conduct of Park Watch.
■   X-Ray, BBC One Wales, 19:30 BST, Monday 14 October