Parking Quota’s in Barnet surely not?
On Wednesday 17 August UNISON members working in Parking Service begin working to rule.
This is part of a Trades Dispute called the ‘identity of the employer’ as Barnet is seeking a private sector contractor to run Parking services in the future.
Many of our members have previous experience of working for a Parking private sector contractor. They have given me a shocking reports on how parking private contractors bully & harass staff issue to as many parking tickets as possible; which is bad news for motorists, what could this mean for Barnet residents?
I decided to have a look at the issue of parking ticket quota’s in Barnet.
I first had a look at Barnet Councils web site to see what message they have for residents.
It says this
“We do not link numbers of penalties issued with pay or any other incentives. There are no “targets” for the number of tickets a Civil Enforcement Officer must issue. We simply require that our Officers, when on duty, issues penalties to vehicles observed in contravention.”
Well I think that is very clear, no quotas and no incentives.
I conducted an anonymous questionnaire with our members and I heard some alarming reports.
I was told that there are no quota’s (good news residents!) but there are ticket expectations (oops!)
Apparently each enforcement officer has to reach a target of 12 Parking tickets a shift. I am also led to believe that we are employing 10 Agency workers who are bringing in on average 30+ parking tickets a shift. This is a significant number of parking tickets.
This is a serious amount of tickets and a significant amount of fines.
I was concerned because I remembered reading something about Signs and Lines in the business case which the Council produced to outsource the Parking Service.
Sign & Lines and issuing tickets
In, paragraph 1.3 of the Councils business case continues it states:
“Effective enforcement relies on the controls being effectively signed, and it proposed that the provider undertake a full assessment of the signs and lines and provide a priced proposal to upgrade them to an acceptable standard.”
This appears to be an explicit admission that the signs and lines are not currently maintained to an acceptable standard. It is my understanding that the Council are legally required to maintain traffic signs and road markings in accordance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD). When applying to commence Civil Enforcement, Authorities are required to confirm that
“…all Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs), traffic signs and road markings are in compliance with legal requirements and the traffic signs and road markings are consonant with the orders” (para 17).
Although not explicitly stated, it follows that this compliance needs to continue after commencement of Civil Enforcement. Given that the Council considers the signs and lines are not maintained to an acceptable standard, it’s appears enforcement activity would appear to be in conflict the requirements of the Statutory Guidance, and also with Annex D of the operational guidance, specifically:
“All local authorities are responsible for the accuracy and condition of the traffic signs and road markings that identify parking restrictions in their area. The traffic signs and road markings must conform strictly to the relevant regulations (currently the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 – TSRGD – and subsequent amendments) or have special authorisation from DfT. They should also conform to the guidance set out in Chapters 3 and 5 of the Traffic Signs Manual.” (para D1)
“PCNs may not be valid if they are issued where traffic signs and road markings are incorrect or in poor condition. Representations demonstrating this should be accepted. If such representations are not accepted, any subsequent appeal may be successful….” (para D2)
In light of the above I was seriously concerned on behalf of my members that I decided to write to the senior officer responsible for Parking. I specifically asked that he give me an assurance that there are no ticket expectations for civil enforcement officers and no pressure on them to issue tickets where the ‘traffic signs and road markings are incorrect or in poor condition’.
I will report back to my members after I receive a response back from the senior officer responsible.
Overtime
This was issue was raised by members; I was told that if they did not issue enough ‘parking expectations’ they would not get any overtime. The Council web site is clear on this matter ‘We do not link numbers of penalties issued with pay or any other incentives’
I am chasing this matter up and will report back to my members when I hear back from the senior officer responsible.
I note in a Local Blog that Barnet plan to abolish Pay & Display machines read post here