Subject:

Parking Annual Report 2019-20

Date of Meeting:

24 November 2020

Report of:

Executive Director Economy Environment & Culture

Contact Officer:

Name:

Paul Nicholls

Tel:

01273 293287

 

Email:

paul.nicholls@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Ward(s) affected:

All

 

 

FOR GENERAL RELEASE

 

 

1.         PURPOSE OF REPORT AND POLICY CONTEXT

 

1.1         To note and approve the publication of the Parking Annual Report 2019-20 on the performance of Parking Services for general publication under the provisions of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

 

2.         RECOMMENDATIONS:    

 

2.1         That the Environment Transport and Sustainability Committee endorses the publication of the Parking Annual Report for 2019-20 under the provisions of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

 

2.2         That the Environment Transport and Sustainability Committee authorises the Head of Parking to produce and publish the report, which will be made available on the Council’s website.

 

2.3         That the Environment Transport and Sustainability Committee notes the view on the potential use of parking income to invest in the restoration of the Madeira Terraces area within the Financial and Legal implications.

 

3.            CONTEXT/ BACKGROUND INFORMATION

 

3.1         Last year’s annual report was not put forward for the national independent Parking Annual Report Review Group Award established by PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) as Brighton & Hove City Council represented by Paul Nicholls, chaired last year’s parking annual reports judging panel, following our success at the awards the previous year. All Parking Annual Reports are available to view on the Brighton and Hove City Council website.

 

3.2         This year’s report includes information about:

 

·         The number of Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notices has decreased from 75,029 in 2019/20 to 53,822 in 2019/20. The decrease is due to improved compliance following the first full year of bus lane enforcement throughout the city, and some CCTV cameras being removed in some parts of the city due to development work e.g. the Valley Gardens project phases 1 & 2

·         Over the last year the number of parking Penalty Charge Notices issued, has remained stable with a slight increase from 122,685 in 2018/19 to 124,248 in 2019/20 partly due to the introduction of new parking schemes.

·         The funding of £300,000 from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and a further £100,000 investment from Electric Blue has enabled 207 electric charging points to be installed across the city.

·         The addition of a new parking schemes in Zone P (Hove Park area) and a change in the previous Zone U (St Luke’s area) from a ‘Light Touch’ scheme to a full scheme as part of Zone C (Queens Park area), following consultation with residents     

·         The expansion of the Disabled (Blue) Badge team’s operations following national changes to the eligibility criteria.

·         The initial impact of Covid-19 in the early months of 2020 and how this changed the way people used the roads and public spaces in Brighton and Hove.

·         Initiatives to reduce vehicle emissions and become carbon neutral by 2030.

 

3.3       Income and expenditure is shown in the table below

Income by source

2017/18 (£)

 

2018/19 (£)

2019/20 (£)

 

On-street parking charges

10,839,586

11,441,854

11,558,889

 

Permit income

9,252,061

9,589,716

10,081,467

Penalty Charge Notices (inclusive of bad debt provision)

3,852,449

5,832,784

5,744,489

Other

36,338

95,985

78,841

Total

23,980,434

26,960,340

27,463,686

Direct cost of civil parking enforcement

2017/18 (£)

2018/19 (£)

2019/20(£)

Enforcement

3,620,476

4,601,931

4,928,865

Admin, appeals, debt recovery and maintenance

3,371,630

3,238,111

3,528,637

Scheme review / new schemes

767,569

1,076,960

1,239,479

Capital charges

1,010,833

1,261,186

1,265,915

Total

8,770,508

10,178,188

10,962,896

Surplus after direct costs

15,209,926

16,782,152

16,500,790

 

Funding for transport and highways-related projects supported by CPE income

2017/18 (£)

2018/19 (£)

2019/20 (£)

Supported bus services and other public transport services

1,380,366

1,322,917

1,216,309

Highways and City Transport Services

467,668

2,201,774

2,146,997

Concessionary fares

10,792,232

10,796,363

10,774,831

Capital investment borrowing costs

2,569,660

2,461,097

2,362,653

Total

15,209.926

16,782,152

16,500,790

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.3         Car park income

 

Year

Expenditure

Income

Net (income) / Expenditure

2016/17

3,047,894

5,917,078

2,869,184

2017/18

3,384,967

6,092,432

2,707,465

2018/19

3,548,394

6,535,468

2,987,074

2019/20

3,805,899

6,379,890

2,573,991

 

The surplus from off street parking has decreased by £413,083 to £2,987,074.  This is mainly as a result of the implications from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of Oxford Street car park.  The revenue is mostly from The Lanes, Trafalgar Street, London Road and Regency Square.

 

4.            ANALYSIS & CONSIDERATION OF ANY ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

 

4.1         None. It is a statutory requirement to produce a Parking Annual Report.

 

5.            COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & CONSULTATION

 

5.1         The publication of the Parking Annual Report 2019-20 is being used as an opportunity to inform and engage with the public and stakeholders on a range of parking issues

 

6.         CONCLUSION

 

6.1         The Report provides the public and stakeholders with information on the performance and aims and objectives of Parking Services and to meet the Council’s legal obligations under the Traffic Management Act 2004.

 

7.         FINANCIAL & OTHER IMPLICATIONS:

 

Financial Implications:

 

7.1         The costs associated with the production and publication of the Parking Annual Report are funded from existing revenue budgets within the city’s Transport service. Financial information relating to the council’s parking services are included within the Parking Annual Report.

                                                                   

7.2         With reference to the recommendation in paragraph 2.3 of this report (“…notes the view on the potential use of parking income to invest in the restoration of the Madeira Terraces area within the legal implications”), all of the council’s surplus parking income is applied to existing city services (that are eligible under the legislation). There are no unallocated parking income surpluses available.  

 

7.3         In addition, if the existing parking surpluses were legally allowed to be diverted to be spent on the restoration of the Madeira Terraces, then the equivalent value would have to be taken from existing services (which would result in a reduction in the level of service).  In 2020/21, mainly as a result of the impact of the Covid19 restrictions, parking income (and as a result any surplus) is substantially below budget.  This has been reported to Policy & Resources Committee as part of budget monitoring reporting.

 

            Finance Officer Consulted: Jess Laing                                        Date: 23/10/2020

 

Legal Implications:

 

7.4         The Council is required by statutory guidance issued by the Department for Transport under Section 87 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 to produce and publish an annual report within 6 months of the end of the financial year detailing financial and statistical information on its civil parking enforcement regime.

 

7.5         Under Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (Section 55) a local authority may only apply surplus income received from parking charges and penalty charges to specific purposes. The surplus income has to be applied first to the provision of off-street parking facilities and repayments of deficits to central funding. Once those requirement s have been met, the use of surplus income is confined to the provision of public passenger transport services, highway or road maintenance, safety and improvement projects, environmental improvements or other purposes for which a prescribed authority may lawfully incur expenditure.

.  

7.6     The allocation of any surplus income must be made in accordance with the

           hierarchy of expenditure set out in Section 55.  Expenditure on the Madeira

           Terrace restoration project could only if be made if there were a balance

           remaining after this allocation. 

 

            Lawyer Consulted: Stephanie Stammers        Date: 22 October 2020

 

            Equalities Implications:

 

7.7       None identified

 

            Sustainability Implications:

 

7.8         The report highlights successful bids for electric vehicle chargepoints and other        initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.

 

Brexit Implications:

 

7.9         None

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Appendices:

 

1.         Parking Annual Report 2019-20

 

Background Documents

 

1.         Previous Parking Annual Reports published on the council’s website