Parking Services

Annual Report

2008-2009
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 INDEX

PAGE NUMBER

1. Introduction 3

2. Car Parks 4

3. Current Operations 5

4. Penalty Charge Notices 6

5. Statistics 7

6. Appeal and Challenges 9

7. Income & Expenditure 10

8. Training 13

9. Safer Parking Awards 13

10 The Future 14

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Dover District Council took over responsibility for the

enforcement of on-street parking regulations from Kent Police
on 23 January 2001. This document reports on the
performance of the Service from 1 April 2008 to 31 March
2009, both for operations on street, and in respect of car
parks.

1.2 Parking in contravention of the parking regulations is no longer

a criminal offence, although it is still an illegal act. The
legislation under which the service currently operates are the
Road Traffic Act 1984, the Road Traffic Act 1991, the Traffic
Management Act 2004, the Kent County Council (various
roads, Dover District) (waiting restrictions and street parking
places) Order March 2005 (with amendments), and the Dover
District Council Off-Street Parking Places Order 2009. A copy
of the off-street Order is available on our website -
www.dover.gov.uk/parking

1.3 Dover District Council act as agents on behalf of Kent County

Council for enforcement of parking restrictions on the roads
throughout the district. Any surplus made from this part of the
operation is ring-fenced, and must be used for transport, or
environmental projects. A surplus of £44,818 was made on
street during 2008/9, which was an increase of £860 on the
previous year.

1.4 On 31 March 2008, new legislation was introduced -the Traffic

Management Act 2004. Under this legislation, Parking
Attendants became known as Civil Enforcement Officers
(CEO’s), and higher and lower bands for penalty charge
notices (£70 and £50 respectively)were introduced. It is now
also possible for us to post a penalty charge notice (PCN) to
the registered owner or keeper of a vehicle, if a CEO has been
prevented from issuing a PCN. More information on the Traffic
Management Act 2004 is available on our website-
www.dover.gov.uk/parking

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2. Car Parks

2.1 Dover District Council operates most of the car parks

throughout the district. Somerfields and Sainsburys
supermarkets in Deal, however, own their car parks, which
are managed for them by Dover District Council. A full list of
the car parks operated by Dover District Council can be
found on our website- www.dover.gov.uk/parking

2.2 Most car parks and roads in the district are free of charge to
users on Sundays, but the following sites are pay and display
every day: -

• Camden Crescent car park, Dover

• Beach Street car park, Deal
• The Quay car park, Sandwich
• The Seafront, Dover
• Beach Street, Deal

2.3 Following a successful pilot scheme, linear charging was

introduced into most of our car parks throughout the district
from 31 January 2008. Linear charging is recognised as a
fairer system for paying for parking, as, after a minimum
charge for (typically) 40 minutes parking, customers pay by
the minute for the time required. This eliminates the need for
customers to have the correct change, or purchase parking
by the hour, when a lesser time is required.

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3.Current Operation

3.1 Parking Services operates from locations in Deal and Dover,

and enforcement is carried out seven days a week including
evenings. Seven beats cover the District- four in Dover, two
in Deal and one in Sandwich and the rural areas from
Monday- Saturday. At least two Civil Enforcement Officers
are on duty every evening, and three are on duty on
Sundays throughout the district.

3.2 The Administration Section is operational from 8am-5pm

Monday- Friday. Whilst it is no longer possible for us to
receive visitors, enquiries can be made in person at the
Corporate @ Your Service facilities situated in the Council
Offices at Whitfield, Castle Street in Dover, Boulevard
Courriers in Aylesham, The Town Hall in Deal and The
Guildhall in Sandwich. Opening days and times are available
on our website www.dover.gov.uk

3.3 Citizens who have been issued with a Penalty Charge

Notice (PCN) are able to appeal or pay a penalty charge on-
line, and to access any evidence, such as photographs that
may have been taken at the time of the parking
contravention. They then have the benefit of making an
informed choice before they appeal against a charge

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4. Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’S)

4.1 In the financial year 2008/9, 17,276 Penalty Charge Notices

were issued, - 10,079 on street, and 7,184 in car parks.
Thirteen test tickets were also issued during that period. The
table below shows the split of these penalty charge notices.

2009 On Street Car Parks

At lower level 5261 6649
At higher level 4818 535
Issued in Deal 2628 3350
Issued in Dover 6120 3064
Issued in Sandwich 986 770
Issued in the rural 345 0
areas
Cancelled 2895 2420
Paid at discounted 3566 2826
rate
Paid at full rate and 2159 1342
beyond

4.2 When all attempts to recover outstanding charges have failed,

Dover District Council employs bailiffs, at no cost to the
Authority, to obtain the charges due on our behalf. 1,138 cases
were despatched on an equal basis to two firms of Court
Enforcement Officers in 2008/9, which is 141 more than in
2007/8. It is regrettable that this course of action becomes
necessary, and it is only taken when all other attempts to collect
this public money have failed.

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5. Statistics

5.1 8,459 items of mail, (excluding e-mails) were received at the

Parking Services office throughout the year. 3,079 item were
received concerning PCN’s issued at the lower charge, and
1,369 related to PCN’s issued at the higher charge.

5.2 Civil Enforcement Officers experienced 11 cases of violence

against them that were serious enough to document through the
Council’s Violence at Work procedure. This was an increase of
6 on the previous year.

5.3 The Service issued 17,276 Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s)

throughout the year. These are broken down into the most
common contraventions, by car park and on street, as follows: -

Most common contraventions in car parks

4,500
4,000
3,500 No Ticket Displayed
Expired Ticket
3,000
Incorrectly parked
2,500
In Disabled Bay
2,000
Class Prohibited
1,500
Period Exceeded
1,000 In Permit Bay
500
0
1

Most common contravention - on street

Ove rstay in Ltd
w aiting area
3,000
No P & D Ticke t
2,500
Taxi Rank
2,000

1,500 Expire d Tim e

1,000 Com m ercial Vehicle

500
No Waiting/Loading
0
1 Dis abled Bay no
badge

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 5,315 Penalty Charge Notices issued were subsequently
cancelled for a variety of reasons. Each case rests on its own
merit and mitigating circumstances will be taken into account.
Along with most other local Authorities in Kent, Dover District
Council has taken the unusual step of publishing its cancellation
policy. This document shows that Parking Services is striving to
become more open and transparent, and it can be viewed at
www.dover.gov.uk/parking

5.4 Civil Enforcement Officers report all untaxed vehicles that are
observed during the course of their patrols to the DVLA. During
2008/9, 180 vehicles were reported seen without a valid tax disc
in Dover, 94 in Deal, and 19 in Sandwich and the rural areas.
This action is undertaken at the request of the DVLA, who have
stated that action is taken against all cases reported to them.

5.5 The table below shows the breakdown of Penalty Charge

Notices, issued by town, and whether these were issued On-
Street, or in a car park during the year.

On Street Off Street Other All Contraventions

All Contraventions. Deal 2,628 3,350 5 5,983
All Contraventions. Dover 6,120 3,064 8 9,192
All Contraventions. Rural Areas 345 0 0 345
All Contraventions. Sandwich 986 770 0 1,756
All Contraventions. All Places 10,079 7,184 13 17,276

Details of Penalty Charge Notices that have been issued

throughout the district, by contravention, road and car park in
2008/9 can be found on our website www.dover.gov.uk

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6. Appeals and challenges

6.1 All members of the public have recourse to appeal to an

independent adjudicator if they wish to challenge a decision
made by Parking Services about a particular Penalty Charge
Notice. Three representations were made to the National
Parking Adjudication Service over the year, and at the time that
this report was written, these 3 cases had yet to be heard.

From 31 March 2008, the National Parking Adjudication Service

has become the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, and their website
address is now www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk

6.2 Not all appeals go to the parking Adjudicator. During the year,
Parking Services received 4,671 appeals and challenges. Of
these, 2,380 resulted in the cancellation of the charge, whilst
the remainder were pursued for payment.

7. Income and Expenditure

7.1 On Street Income and Expenditure

Expenditure
2008/1-2008/13
Account description Amount £
DIV EMPLOY-PARKING SERVS ADMIN 86,136.70
DIV EMPLOY-PARKING OPS & ENFMT 216,901.43
DIV EMPLOY-PROJECTS & TRANSP'T 60,171.50
GENERAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE 1,173.58
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE-ROUTINE 27,468.77
ELECTRICITY - 234.00
CLEANING OF BUILDINGS - 1,718.92
TMA IMPLEMENTATION COSTS - 1,196.55
EQUIPMENT-MAINTENANCE 10,137.94
PRINTING FROM EXTERNAL PRINTER 5,263.22
COMPUTER SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE 10,758.24
COMPUTER LINK TELEPHONES 2,569.63
AGENCY PAYMENTS (EKHA ETC) 875.10
CENTRAL SUP-DDC @ YOUR SERVICE 25,743.10
CENTRAL SUPPORT-ACCOUNTANCY 1,579.88
CENTRAL SUPPORT-INTERNAL AUDIT 932.17
CENTRAL SUPP-PROPERTY SERVICES 834.64
CENTRAL SUP-PROCUREMNT & CREDS 1,155.18
CENTRAL SUP-CORP INCOME COLLEC 869.20
CENTRAL SUPP-MAISON DIEU PREMS 1,318.14

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DIV OHEAD-PARKING SERVS ADMIN
DIV OHEAD-PARKING OPS & ENFCMT
DIV OHEAD-PROJECTS & TRANSP'T
DEPRECIATION-EQUIPMENT
Total expenditure
Income
CAR PARK FEE INCOME
PREPAID CAR PARK FEES
CAR PARK SEASON TICKETS
PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES
BUILDERS PERMITS
DISABLED BAYS
RESIDENTS PERMITS
ACCESS HIGHLIGHT MARKINGS
Total Income
Total surplus on the Parking Account
61,227.18
42,034.10
28,702.97
-
582,703.20
- 302,916.48
- 315.09
- 9,084.50
- 252,509.98
- 8,488.08
- 540.00
- 51,927.91
- 1,740.00
627,522.04
- 44,818.84

CAR PARKS _PAY & DISPLAY Actual

Account description Amount
DIV EMPLOY-CARELINE TRADING 2,109.32
GENERAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE 29,097.13
BUILDINGS-VANDALISM 38.82
VANDALISM OF PLANT 277.50
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE-ROUTINE 10,555.00
REMOVAL OF GYPSIES 50.00
ELECTRICITY 2,302.02
SEWERAGE AND ENV SERVICES 476.98
RENTS PAYABLE 32,545.75
BUSINESS RATES NNDR 142,077.09
PREMISES INSURANCE 1.41
EQUIPMENT-MAINTENANCE 22,112.28
EQUIPMENT-PURCHASE 2,178.95
EQUIPMENT-LEASE COSTS 3,580.00
PRINTING FROM PRINT UNIT 17.70
PRINTING FROM EXTERNAL PRINTER 7,741.88
COMPUTER SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE 4,610.67
COMPUTER LINK TELEPHONES 4,481.84
SUBSCRIPTIONS 2,640.00
INSURANCE-NOT VEHICLES OR BLDG 165.77
AGENCY PAYMENTS (EKHA ETC) 414.90
PUBLICITY ADVERT(NOT RECRUIT) 1,360.52
LICENCES-NOT VEHICLES 1.00
RE-IMBURSE 3RD PARTY CAR PARKS 192,967.67
CENTRAL SUP-DDC @ YOUR SERVICE 22,423.39
CENTRAL SUPPORT-ACCOUNTANCY 6,902.22
CENTRAL SUPPORT-INTERNAL AUDIT 2,162.24
CENTRAL SUPPORT-LEGAL 3,842.31
CENTRAL SUPP-PROPERTY SERVICES 12,863.05
CENTRAL SUP-PROCUREMNT & CREDS 2,053.65

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CENTRAL SUP-CORP INCOME COLLEC 553.13
CENTRAL SUPP-MAISON DIEU PREMS 659.07
DIV OHEAD-CARELINE TRADING 896.75
MISCELLANEOUS LICENCE INCOME - 14,473.56
CAR PARK FEE INCOME -1,345,558.83
CAR PARK SEASON TICKETS - 105,137.18
PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES - 138,374.43
BUILDERS PERMITS - 706.88
RESIDENTS PERMITS - 29,713.23
WAYLEAVE RENT INCOME - 42,631.61
PRIOR YEAR INCOME - 26,960.98
-1,189,396.69
DIV EMPLOY-PARKING SERVS ADMIN 36,914.30
DIV EMPLOY-PARKING OPS & ENFMT 99,307.79
DIV OHEAD-PARKING SERVS ADMIN 26,244.65
DIV OHEAD-PARKING OPS & ENFCMT 19,243.46
Total surplus -1,007,686.49

7.3 Expenditure in free car parks

Actual
Account description Amount
GENERAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE 3,478.89
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE-ROUTINE 1,041.42
RENTS PAYABLE 1.00
BUSINESS RATES NNDR 6,023.86
PREMISES INSURANCE 1.41
EQUIPMENT-PURCHASE -
SUBSCRIPTIONS 1,370.00
CENTRAL SUPPORT-ACCOUNTANCY 1,579.88
CENTRAL SUPP-PROPERTY SERVICES 1,730.58
CENTRAL SUP-PROCUREMNT & CREDS 227.12
CENTRAL SUPP-MAISON DIEU PREMS 329.54

15,783.70

DIV EMPLOY-PARKING OPS & ENFMT 15,294.07

DIV OHEAD-PARKING OPS & ENFCMT 2,968.19

Total Expenditure 34,045.96

7.4 Expenditure- Multi Storey Car Park

Actual
Account description Amount
GENERAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE 533.90
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE-ROUTINE 137.28
ELECTRICITY 436.80
WATER CHARGES-METERED 39.36

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SEWERAGE AND ENV SERVICES 60.39
RENTS PAYABLE 22,500.00
BUSINESS RATES NNDR 4,606.90
CENTRAL SUPPORT-ACCOUNTANCY 503.60

28,818.23

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 8. Training

8.1 Regular briefings are held with all Civil Enforcement Officers in
order to resolve problems and to ensure that enforcement
throughout the district is accurate, fair, transparent and
consistent.

8.2 It takes around six months to fully train a Civil Enforcement

Officer, who will walk up to ten miles in a day. All staff are
formally trained to NVQ standards by an outside trainer, as well
as accompanying a more experienced member of staff in the
early days.

9. Safer Parking

9.1 One additional Park Mark was awarded during 2008/9 to the
Victoria Park Car Park in Deal

This brings the total Safer Parking awards in the Dover District
to 37 – 93% of the total car parks owned or managed by Dover
District Council.

9.2 These awards are given to car parks that have very low crime
rates, and where good management practices have been
demonstrated. Accredited assessors from Kent Police and the
British Parking Association inspect car parks. More information
on this scheme is available on the British Parking Association’s
website – www.britishparking.co.uk. All car parks that have been
accredited with the Park Mark are listed on the safer parking
website - www.saferparking.com

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 10. The Future

10.1 Software has been installed that will enable citizens to apply for
permits on-line. In certain cases, this transaction will be 100%
electronic. The system is currently under test, and it is
anticipated that it will become live late in 2009.

10.2 Cashless payment for parking in most pay and display areas
throughout the district will become live in June 2009.

If you have any questions relating to any part of this report,

please do not hesitate to contact Dianne Hopper, Parking
Services and CCTV Manager on 01304 216860 or e-mail on
diannehopper@dover.gov.uk

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