What are your views? St Albans car parking enforcement consultation underway
PCSO gives Parking Ticket, in Market Street, Ely - Credit: Archant
Residents are being asked for their opinions on who should operate car parking enforcement throughout the area.
A parking machine in Market Place, St Albans. - Credit: Archant
St Albans district council (SADC) is holding a consultation on whether it should manage car parking and enforcement or outsource to a specialist contractor.
It is possible for the council to split the workload for both onstreet and offstreet spaces - for example enforce in-house and pay a contractor to manage, or vice versa.
At the moment some car parks are managed and enforced by contractors and others by SADC. This arrangement will end in October 2019.
Portfolio holder for business and the community, Cllr Beric Read, said: “Car parking is one of the major services the council provides and a big issue for residents and businesses across the district.
Parking signs in Market Place, St Albans. - Credit: Archant
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“Our current arrangements come to an end next year and we want to ensure that we can provide the most economic, efficient and effective services in the years ahead.”
He said that there may be unprecedented technology changes in the future which will impact the decision.
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SADC has also provided financial figures for each option. Under Option One the council would provide all car parking services and make a profit of £2,740,723.
Under Option Two, SADC would regulate the car parks but not manage enforcement. In this scenario the council would make a profit of £2,664,695.
Fines would be issued by SADC under Option Three, but the car parks managed by a contractor, with SADC profits at £2,099,242 in this scenario.
Option Four means all parking would be outsourced - SADC would get £2,015,153 income in this case.
Therefore Option One, doing all the work itself, generates the most income for SADC.
There is also an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each operating model available.
These include factors like pricing or staff training control.
Once feedback has been analysed, a report will be prepared for a cross-party task and finish group and then presented to the cabinet.
Contribute to the consultation at bit.ly/2DFJFsh
