1. Introduction from Cllr.
2. Future of Parking – Objectives and Strategies
3. Becoming a Carbon Neutral City (switch this with 4?)
4. The future of Electric Vehicles
5. Road Safety, Cycle Lanes and School Enforcement
6. Parking Schemes*
7. On-Street Parking Enforcement
8. Challenges, Representations and Appeals
9. Bus Lanes, Bus Gates and CCTV
10. Car Parks
11. Stanmer Park
12. Permits
13. Blue Badges and Concessionary Travel
14. The Customer Journey
15. Financial information
16. Where our income goes
Introduction from Cllr
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Brighton & Hove City Councils Parking Annual Report for 2021/22.
This year’s report details what has happened within Parking Services over the last financial year, along with an overview of the financials including how the income feeds back into Transport related initiatives.
Parking and traffic management is an important public service, which provides benefits for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and the wider community. Those benefits include maintaining road safety and access to jobs, goods and services and access to the city for blue badge holders.
Parking Services were awarded Parking Team of the Year at the National Parking Awards in 2021. This is credit to the teams continued work to be at the forefront of new and relevant parking initiatives. This includes the City’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure which currently has over 300 public charge points. The demand for charging has increased year on year. Brighton & Hove City Council are committed to ensuring the network is fit for purpose as the demand grows to support the uptake of electric vehicle ownership.
Following resident consultations, two new parking schemes were introduced during 2021/22. The schemes will benefit residents by reducing commuter parking, improving access for emergency services and ensuring pedestrian safety.
The Parking and Transport teams play a key role towards the Councils Carbon Neutrality goal. Ensuring the free movement of vehicles and developing sustainable travel options are effective ways to manage and reduce harmful emissions.
Thank you for taking the time to read the Annual Report which we hope you find interesting.
1. Parking Objectives and Strategies
The second
full year of COVID restrictions saw a significant increase in
demand for parking services across the city.
Moving to a more online orientated approach will present more
challenges to some than others and has represented a shift in how
our staff work and view the split of home working and being in the
office.
Our dual focus during this incredibly challenging time has been to
innovate and adapt, while striving to provide the same high level
of customer service that has always been our aim.
This has not always been possible; we must acknowledge the
challenges we’ve faced as much as we celebrate the
wins.
Accessing our services – the closure of our front counter at Hove Town Hall was mandated on us. Our decision to keep this closed, to reallocate essential resources, reflects our confidence in our staff
2. Becoming a Carbon Neutral City
Our plans
Brighton & Hove is striving to become a net Carbon Neutral City by 2030.
Brighton & Hove City Council is working to tackle emission hotspots across the city, while also improving air quality for all residents and visitors. We are working on effective ways to manage, and reduce harmful emissions, especially Nitrogen Dioxide and the range of carbon emissions, while supporting both business and personal travel.
Over a third of Brighton & Hove’s carbon emissions come from transport.
- (2030 Carbon Neutral Programme – March 2021)
Public transport
A good transport system and services are fundamental to our economy and our quality of life. We have also long recognised that transport has adverse impacts on the environment. To avoid dangerous climate change we must act in Brighton and Hove, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport.
We need a shift to public transport and active forms of travel to bring down carbon and nitrous oxide emissions, which affect everyone in the city.
Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company recently launched their climate strategy where their goal is to make all buses emissions free by 2035.
The government plan is to phase out fossil fuelled vehicle sales by 2030, with allowance for some hybrids up to 2035. Switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric and hydrogen vehicles will save carbon emissions and improve air quality, as will a reduction in the length and number of vehicle trips.
Brighton & Hove City Council held a climate assembly from September 2020 to November 2020, on the topic of travel and transport.
The key question was:
How can we reduce carbon emissions from transport in the city
We came up with these initiatives...
We intend to:
What we have achieved by 2022
The Council has made strides to reduce the adverse impacts of transport on its air quality including:
· joining the blueprint to a circular economy project with partners in England and France in April 2021
· becoming a member of the UK 100 campaign of councils in May 2021, committing to reducing their emissions to net zero by 2030
Flowbird our Pay and Display machine provider have now been awarded Carbon Neutral status.
Meters for Trees
In Autumn 2021, 140 trees were delivered to CityParks as part of PayByPhone’s carbon reduction initiative, Meters for Trees, to improve the environment. The 140 trees will offset 140 tonnes of CO2; 140 trees were also planted last year.
PaybyPhone offers cashless parking payments that are more convenient for drivers and reduces the need for staff to drive round collecting cash from parking machines.
You can view the most recent reports on the council’s website.
3. Electric Vehicles
2021/22 saw our EV network go from strength to strength. Our focus was on providing more charging options for both residents and the public, as well as ensuring chargers were accessible when they were needed. We introduced 3 Rapid Hubs, with 3 Rapid Chargers at each, capable of delivering 50kWh per hour, and continued our rolling program of creating more mandatory bays for our existing lamppost chargers. Power demand grew nearly 7 times from 83,931 kWh in 2020/21 to over 550,000 kWh in 2021/22. This figure equates to over 1.5 million miles of driving powered by our chargers.
Registered EVs/PHEVs in Brighton & Hove has nearly doubled since 2020/21, from 871 to 1,553 in Q4 of 2021/22. We are currently using two conservative forecasts, with full knowledge that the uptake trend is likely to jump in the coming years
E- taxi rapids
With the hubs on Ashton Rise, Preston Park Avenue and Victoria Road in place, we are focussing efforts on the final hub site at Brighton Racecourse. Alongside this, we are investigating contingency sites for the final three rapid chargers due to the site at Brighton racecourse being at risk because of the NHS COVID vaccination centre that has been in operation there since the pandemic.
We are awaiting quotations from UKPN to determine whether there is sufficient available electricity at the sites that will determine whether the sites are viable. An update will be provided to the taxi trade in due course. If the sites are viable, the next stage will be to carry an informal consultation with local residents.
Public Rapids
We are now investigating sites across the city for rapid chargers which will be for public use. Up to 40 more sites are also potentially to be confirmed.
We are looking at next year for work to begin on these sites due to a tender process that will need to be followed and funding that will need to be secured.
EV disabled bays
Two charging bays, accessible for disabled people have been installed at Rottingdean Marine Cliffs car park as part of a shared project between EB Charging and Disabled Motoring UK.
Enforceable EV bays
We are responding to the demand for more EV bays not only by installing new EV charging points but by also creating dedicated and enforceable EV charging bays that were previously of shared use. There is a total of 100 out of the 200 lamp column charge points which currently have enforceable bays.
A further 50 lamppost bays are planned to become of exclusive use for EVs and will be advertised in Autumn 22 and another 50, will be advertised early next year. These will not only be restricted to EV users only, but they will also require a resident permit per zone and a 24-hour time limit to prevent bay blocking.
With 64 enforceable bays at fast chargers and 18 bays at the rapid hubs, the overall total of enforceable bays across the city, is 182.
2021/22 saw continued improvement in use of existing infrastructure, with the introduction of Rapid Chargers in November 2021 creating a surge in both demand and the ability to deliver high levels of kWh.
Actual kWh delivery has increased almost 7 fold compared to the first year, with a forecast of at least 1 million kWh (1gWh) being delivered in 2022/23.
Our goal remains two-fold: to ensure high quality delivery and reliability of existing infrastructure while continuing a rolling program of infrastructure installation to ensure we remain ahead of demand from both residents but also a growing number of visitors.
4. Cycling and Cycle Lanes
As of 31 May 2022, the Bikeshare scheme has delivered:
• 201,605 total subscribers to date – 3108 new in May/ 7860 ongoing active.
• 85 Hubs across the city
• A deployable fleet of 525 Bikes. (Others awaiting repair).
• A total of 1,653,864 trips have been made. Average no in May per day: 781
• A total distance cycled by subscribers of 3,701,601 Miles
General
-SIM cards in the current fleet bikes controllers had to be changed in April when the Telecom provider announced plans to switch off 3G services in the UK. The new SIM provider has now also indicated a phasing out of 3G during 2023, though the SIMs will remain functional using 2G signal. The Council is working with the provider to ensure this does not lead to a dip in service next Spring before the reorganised fleet can be delivered, tested and deployed.
-Over the winter the council funded the refurbishment of a further 80 of the oldest bikes, the purchase of more batteries and spare parts to ensure the fleet continues to function. A programme of rubberization of forks on the remaining oldest bikes was also undertaken to protect paint and metal from further deterioration due to wear and tear.
Hubs
The University of Sussex Hub at York House moved to Bramber house on 8 July 2022 as part of the West Slope redevelopment at University of Sussex.
Hubs will be appearing at the Bridge Pocket Preston Barracks (under the footbridge) and at Black Rock Volks railway terminus as the relevant surrounding developments near completion.
A second King Alfred hub will be included in the A259 cycleway extension to Hove Lagoon with adjustments and expansions at the Lagoon and a virtual hub at Rockwater. The Hub at Western Road Waitrose is moving to the Regent Hill junction as part of the Western Road works.
Funding for hubs and bikes/ e-bikes in the new scheme has been agreed as part of the planning process for three development sites at Toads Hole, the Belgrave Centre Portslade and North Coldean.
The new John Street hub replacing the Edward St hub and funded by the Edward Street Quarter will expand by a 3 further stands to 20 in total in the near future.
Discussions are underway with landowners or leaseholders about new shortlist hubs recommended in the Hub network review. The new operator will create detailed designs to be shared with ward councillors in all wards affected in the autumn, and final designs will then be consulted on with residents as part of the TRO amendment and Footway licensing processes.
Reorganisation
A Hub network review has recommended a further 14 bespoke sites and one virtual hub site to make the scheme city wide. Relevant ward members will be consulted on these proposals in their final designs prior to TRO and Footway licencing amendments being advertised in the autumn. A report on objections will go the ETS committee in early 2023 and installations will take place over the Spring and Summer prior to the operational commencement date for the new fleet.
A pilot of universal charging hubs (available to private e-bike owners and fleet operators) will take place at two further sites along the Lewes Road Corridor on non-public highway sites subject to lease agreements being in place. Installations will also coincide with other network expansions
A further service vehicle EV will be added in September to improve the carbon footprint of service and maintenance operations.
5. Design and Implementation of our Parking Schemes
New Schemes
Following resident consultations, two new parking schemes were introduced during the financial year 2021/22:
· Zone 10 (Surrenden area)
· Zone P extension (Hazledean Meads & The Beeches)
Four current parking schemes were reviewed during the financial year 2021/22:
Review of Current Schemes
· Zone J Review (London Road Station area[PN1] [SS2] )
· Zone L Review (West Hove area)
· Zone P Review (Hove Park area)
· Zone W Review (Wish Park area)
Many new schemes have been introduced, in part, as a response to complaints about all-day (commuter) parking, which was causing difficulties for residents during the day. Issues with access for emergency services vehicles, pedestrian safety and traffic flow were also contributing factors.
Consultations are currently underway in the Hollingdean, Hallyburton Road, Withdean and Roedean areas with reviews planned for Zone U (Coombe Road area) and Zone X (South Portslade) later in the year.
6. Parking Enforcement
Issuing of Penalty Charge Notices
The table below shows the number of PCN’s issued in the last four years, divided according to higher and lower fee banding. Parking contraventions deemed to be “less serious” will incur a lower initial penalty than more serious offences.
The number of Penalty Charge Notices issued in 2021/22 increased by 41,076.
Total of TMA penalty charge notices issued |
2018/19 |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
On-street: Number of higher-level penalty charge notices issued |
86,959 |
96,156 |
79,625 |
109,653 |
On-street Number of lower-level penalty charge notices issued |
32,832 |
26,452 |
20,086 |
28,333 |
Off-street: Number of higher-level penalty charge notices issued |
307 |
134 |
55 |
277 |
Off-street: Number of lower-level penalty charge notices issued |
2,587 |
1,506 |
1,479 |
4,057 |
Total |
122,685 |
124,248 |
101,244 |
142,320 |
PCNs by month
Penalty Charge Notices Paid & Paid at Discount
Penalty Charge Notices Paid Bus Lane & TMA |
2018-19 |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
Number of TMA & Bus Lane penalty charge notices paid |
132,195 |
129,055 |
101,585 |
213,549 |
Percentage of penalty charge notices paid |
67% |
72% |
63% |
76% |
Number of TMA & Bus Lane penalty charge notices paid at a discount rate |
122,070 |
109,273 |
86,205 |
184,774 |
Percentage of penalty charge notices paid at a discount rate |
62% |
61% |
53% |
66% |
Social Value & Recruitment
With difficulties in recruiting and staff retention due to Covid, recruitment has been a key area of focus for NSL.
SWAP:
NSL worked with The Sector Based Work Academy Programme which gave DWP delegates a taster experience of the Civil Enforcement Officer role.
6 delegates attended the course which covered the following elements:
· Communication skills
· Customer services
· Conflict management
· Employability support and how to complete application
A presentation followed the session, plus a question and answer session. Delegates were taken out on-street in pairs with an experienced Officer to show them how enforcement works in practice.
St Mungo’s
NSL have been working with St Mungo’s in the London area to help support homeless people into work. NSL has arranged meetings with St Mungo’s locally to see if this can be replicated in Brighton & Hove.
CEOs in the community
The Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers have a highly visible presence across Brighton & Hove. During their shifts Officers will frequently provide directions to local services and places of interest, report crimes and assist other agencies including the emergency services.
CEO 153 |
Noted a troubled gentleman who was homeless. CEO 153 was concerned for his welfare and contacted Streetlink who provided support. |
CEO 996 |
Helped a distressed visually impaired pedestrian and guided them to Aldi on London Rd. CEO 996 made store security aware to help them with shopping. |
CEO 970 |
CEO 970 gave a driver his phone to call the AA as she left her own phone at home and her car was broken down on Lustrells Vale. |
CEO 549 |
Was approached by a pair who were seeking help. They were trying to help a cyclist who had been involved in an accident but were struggling to understand the 999 dispatcher. CEO 549 took over the call and relayed all the information to the emergency services. |
CEO 769 |
Spotted a car being driven by someone he suspected to be drunk. He called 999 and directed the Police to the location of the vehicle. CEO 769 followed the vehicle to Rottingdean where the Police caught up. The driver & passenger were indeed drunk in charge of a vehicle. |
Monitoring Verbal Abuse Against Civil Enforcement Officers
We asked all deployed colleagues to log any instances of abuse – from name calling to physical attacks. All forms of abuse are of course damaging, but not all abuse is highlighted or reported.
This project aimed to capture the data for the whole of September 2021 to establish the scale of abuse that Civil Enforcement Officers face.
To allow Civil Enforcement Officers to record this very simply and quickly we asked them to use their handheld devices to enter RED or AMBER as appropriate:
AMBER – Verbal attack (profanity, aggressive in nature, hateful/getting personal such as wishing the person or their family harm)
RED– Physical attack (any form of intentional physical contact)
Codes |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Red |
5 |
9 |
1 |
Amber |
167 |
66 |
131 |
It is good to see a clear drop in code reds over the same period.
Rapid Response Line
Urgent issues requiring enforcement action can be dealt with by calling the rapid response telephone service: 0345 603 5469 (option 2). The team will aim to send an officer to the reported location within one hour of the call being made. Problems reported between 8pm and 9am will be dealt with as soon as possible, when service resumes the next morning.
We received 808 complaints on the Rapid Response Line in March – the highest number in one month since May 2018
Month |
No. of Calls |
Apr-21 |
636 |
May-21 |
621 |
Jun-21 |
697 |
Jul-21 |
663 |
Aug-21 |
550 |
Sep-21 |
648 |
Oct-21 |
619 |
Nov-21 |
673 |
Dec-21 |
623 |
Jan-22 |
734 |
Feb-22 |
689 |
Mar-22 |
808 |
7. Suspensions
Brighton & Hove hosts a range of events throughout the year. Parking bay suspensions along with the associated enforcement are vital to ensure the events take place in harmony with the rest of the city’s transportation needs. The major events we process suspensions for, are Brighton Marathon, Brighton Half Marathon, and Pride. However due to the pandemic, most of the events in 2021/22 were postponed till a later date.
Brighton & Hove has also enjoyed the benefits of being a Film City, with ITV’s Grace and My Policeman being filmed in and around the city.
[PN3] [NT4] The table below shows the number of applications processed and bays suspended by year. In 2021/22 there was an increase from 2,501 to 2,991 in suspension applications, a rise of 20% compared to the previous year.
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
|
Suspension Applications Processed |
2,239 |
2,379 |
2,501 |
2,991 |
Parking Bays Suspended |
6,647 |
8,189 |
7,726 |
9,821 |
Altogether, we have experienced an overall increase of demand for all different occasions we provide suspension for, with Removals being the only category for which demand has slightly declined.
Due to this increase in demand for suspensions around the city and to ensure residents have advance warning we require that you provide 7 working days’ notice when applying.
Suspension requests by Reason
8. Challenges, representations and appeals.
We have improved our backlog from 8,349 cases in June 21 to 1,859 cases in April 2022, a 77% improvement that moved us from 8–9-week turnaround, to a 7 - 10 days response time. This has resulted in a 30% reduction in customer contact which allows us to respond to customer contact form enquiries the same day.
We have also invested in extensive training through 2021/22, particularly in ways to support vulnerable debtors while we are working with debt advice organisations, charities on early intervention techniques, signposting and advocacy for the same cause.
9. Bus Lanes, Bus Gates and CCTV
As part of Valley Gardens Phase 2, the roads in and around Central Brighton went through a significant redesign to support easier and more efficient travel for commuters, visitors and buses alike. Bus Lanes at 5 new locations were introduced, along with supporting Bus Gates at critical junctions. Their layout (including signage and lining) has been scrutinised both before implementation and then repeatedly afterwards. While the Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) were put in place July 2019, and the cameras themselves in situ from September 2019, we did not issue warning notices or Bus Lane/Bus Gate Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) until January 2020.
The introduction of the new Bus Gates overlapped with the lifting of lockdown restrictions across the country. A spike in PCN issues from March onwards consequently correlated with a meaningful % of the population returning to offices for the first time since the prior year or travelling more in general. The issue rate of Bus Lane PCNs was at its peak during the summer 2021, since March 2022 however, this figure had dropped to just a slightly higher rate above the residual issue rate before the new cameras were introduced.
Even with all the best intentions and precautions, any new scheme could generate an initial period of above-average PCN issuance. Bus Lane/Gate layout (including signage and lining) in Valley Gardens has been scrutinised both before implementation and then repeatedly afterwards. Customer appeals, and judgements from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, have also allowed us to make improvements to any existing signage or lining as deemed necessary and best practice.
10. Car Parks
In Brighton and Hove, using car parks is often preferable to parking on the street as many roads are reserved for resident permit holders only. Car parks also allow parking for longer periods. Our car parks provide access to the town and an availability of parking space, absorbs traffic, and reduces congestion.
List of car parks
The council operates four barrier entry car parks (The Lanes, Trafalgar Street, Regency Square and London Road). All our car parks and their capacity is listed below:
Car Park |
Spaces |
The Lanes Car Park |
355 |
Regency Square Car Park |
507 |
Trafalgar Street Car Park |
275 |
London Road Car Park |
528 |
King Alfred Car Park |
120 |
Norton Road Car Park |
290 |
Blackrock Car Park |
61 |
Rottingdean Marine Cliffs |
70 |
Rottingdean West Street |
65 |
Car Park Expenditure 2021/22
Location |
Expenditure (£) |
Income (£) |
Income - COVID Compensation (£) |
Net Income (£) |
London Road |
£391,905 |
£852,135 |
£19,646 |
£479,876 |
Regency Square |
£936,603 |
£1,882,818 |
£12,942 |
£959,157 |
The Lanes |
£638,610 |
£2,157,179 |
£1,038 |
£1,519,607 |
Trafalgar |
£649,090 |
£1,319,116 |
£26,825 |
£696,851 |
Oxford Court* |
£0 |
£0 |
£0 |
£0 |
High Street* |
£75,577 |
£50,068 |
£0 |
-£25,509 |
Other Off-Street |
£198,057 |
£915,399 |
£4,799 |
£722,141 |
Total |
£2,889,842 |
£7,176,715 |
£65,250 |
£4,352,123 |
*The High Street Car Park figures shown are after a contribution has been made to the Council’s Housing Revenue Account.
*Oxford Court Car Park has now been sold to facilitate a Doctors surgery development.
Park Mark: a safe place All four of the Council’s barrier car parks are accredited with the Park Mark award.
In 2021/22 we have been tackling anti-social behaviour when it arises in the Council’s Car Parks with 24/7 CCTV monitoring and working alongside security patrols and Police Liaison.
The Council’s carparks are part of a safe space scheme, in allowing vulnerable people to go to the car parks and seek assistance.
Disabled Parking Accreditation
All of the Council’s barrier car parks have achieved the Disabled Parking Accreditation. The scheme recognises off-street parking facilities which are accessible to disabled people. The DPA is primarily aimed at improving parking for disabled people and reducing abuse of disabled bays.
Car parks that achieve the DPA also demonstrate to their customers that they are committed to creating high quality parking facilities for disabled people, such as:
- easy access
- good lighting
- good signage
- accessible payment methods
- enforceable designated bays
Covid-19
Signage was placed on the walls of all of the Council car parks. The floors were marked out for social distancing due to Covid-19. Following guidance from the BPA signage was erected to ask customers to wear facemasks whilst in the car parks too.
Brighton & Hove City Council, Traffic Control Centre
The city’s Traffic Control Centre is a hub for traffic management and signals controls. Alongside this it provides customer service to pay-on-foot cars parks and around the clock controls at all the barrier car parks.
Motorists who require assistance can contact the Control Centre via an intercom and officers operate the barriers and pay machines remotely. The Control Centre is supported by a Mobile Maintenance Team and CCTV monitoring and work closely with Sussex Police and local contractors.
11. Stanmer Park
The impact of its first year of paid parking, the benefits and the future plan for this area. Stanmer Park is a Grade II registered historic park and garden, a rare survival of an 18th Century estate-designed landscape. The city’s largest and most historically significant park, it contains archaeological sites dating back 6000 years to the Neolithic Age. The southern part of the park contains a Local Nature Reserve and a Conservation Area. Many more visitors will be attracted to Stanmer Park as a result of the Stanmer Park Restoration Project. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and BIG Lottery, in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, Plumpton College and the South Downs National Park Authority, this landmark Project is restoring and interpreting the rich heritage of important features including the historic Walled Garden, as well as protecting at-risk buildings.
To manage traffic and parking we have introduced new parking controls and paid parking in locations which better protect the heritage of Stanmer Park. There are now four car parking areas: Upper Lodges, Chalk Hill, Patchway and Lower Lodges East and West to address problems and complaints already experienced during peak periods, including:
• The current location of some of the car parks in the designed 18th century landscape detract from its heritage value.
• The car parks to the south of the park are often full of non- park users, often parking all day.
• Parked cars left along the roadway and verges has caused blockages and disruption for
the park’s 78 bus service, resulting in the loss of the weekday service, deterring and inconveniencing bus users.
• A perception by some members of the public that parking anywhere is acceptable at Stanmer Park, in many cases affecting access for pedestrians, those with disabilities and other vulnerable park users.
Income from car parking charges is ring fenced for use in Stanmer Park and the wider estate to continue the investment and protection of important historic structures, and management and maintenance of the park. Many visitors to the park, both now in and in the future, will arrive by public transport and will therefore, not be affected by parking charges
12. Permits
Over the last year we have migrated nearly 36,000 resident permits from our old system to a new online system through the councils MyAccount. This has presented challenges at times. Some residents did encounter problems when their permits migrated across to the new system, especially in the Autumn of 2021. We have worked hard to improve things and we are now in a much better position.
This change will help us work more efficiently and will make it easier for customers to complete transactions relating to their permits online, via phone, tablet, or personal computer. The current developments are moving towards simplifying the system for customers and bringing services into one portal called MyAccount. This will have intended benefits so customers will be able to access an increasing range of services through the Council’s MyAccount portal including council tax, school applications, recycling etc. as well as being able to self- serve for common tasks such as changing a vehicle.
The system improvement work we have been doing will allow us to do things differently for our customers. In time, these changes will help prevent fraud, better protect data, and make it easier for residents to keep track of their payments and notify us of any changes. Over the next year, more permit types will be available through MyAccount.
From our customers, we want to ask for the minimum information and evidence that is compatible with running an efficient and fair service that is closed to fraudulent misuse.
For our customers, we want to make things as easy as possible to obtain a permit; one that is instantly activated on approval, and to offer permits that are much more tailored to customers’ exact needs.
For our staff, we want them to have confidence in the service they run, and to have the tools to quickly correct things for customers when problems arise – which is the key to good performance and job satisfaction.
We want our service to fully support the council’s wider Digital Strategy, including the single point of entry that MyAccount provides to customers, and the information sharing across departments that will increasingly allow customers to ‘Tell us once’ and will support efficiency and fraud reduction across the organisation.
The Parking Customer Service Centre was closed at the start of the pandemic. It remains closed because we have moved to offering digital online ways of accessing our services.
For those who cannot access the internet, we have an Accessibility Line. This is offered to support residents who may be digitally excluded, where we would process the application on their behalf or if they have access, we will assist them completing the online application.
We have dramatically improved the way customers can contact us – and as a result we are now able to respond quicker. We have worked hard to improve the customer response time for all incoming enquires including phone calls, online support enquires and postal applications.
We are responding and actioning all the enquiries within 3-5 working days and have seen a significant improvement with our call waiting times, which have now been reduced to an average waiting time of 2-3 minutes (from June stats).
Permit Type |
On Issue as of 1 July 2018 |
On Issue as of 1 July 2019 |
On Issue as of 1 July 2020 |
On Issue as of 1 July 2021 |
On Issue as of 1 July 2022 |
Business |
1,387 |
1,178 |
1,036 |
921 |
900 |
Car Club |
108 |
118 |
111 |
166 |
- |
Carer |
330 |
325 |
272 |
301 |
325 |
Dispensation |
572 |
573 |
497 |
755 |
945 |
Doctor |
118 |
137 |
138 |
170 |
154 |
Resident |
37,321 |
37,548 |
36,369 |
37,784 |
40,456 |
Professional Carer |
2,355 |
2,521 |
2,512 |
2,643 |
2,862 |
Schools |
296 |
261 |
238 |
364 |
394 |
Trader |
2,320 |
2,371 |
2,030 |
2,272 |
2,283 |
Waiting Lists
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||
Waiting lists are now managed through MyAccount - a benefit to customers is that the new system allows us to offer a permit the day it becomes available and no longer waiting for the monthly offering out. Waiting List zones are currently applicable to parking zones M, Y and Z.
The table below compares the number of residents on the waiting list in areas, Y and Z and M parking zones over the last four years:
Number on Waiting List at 01/07/19 |
Number on Waiting List at 01/07/20 |
Number on Waiting List at 01/07/21 |
Number on Waiting List at 01/07/22 |
|
Central Brighton North - Y |
208 |
119 |
299 |
146 |
Central Brighton South - Z |
343 |
155 |
303 |
325 |
Central Hove - M |
N/A |
N/A |
311 |
25 |
Total |
551 |
274 |
913 |
496 |
13. Blue Badges and Concessionary Travel
System modernisation
With the pandemic speeding up system modernisation of the Blue Badge and Concessionary Travel team’s systems, we have been working hard with IT to introduce a new online application for all bus pass applicants along with a new backend system for staff. This online application is clearer and more concise for customers to use meaning that they are not answering any unnecessary questions and prompts customers to provide us with the necessary information to process their application. It is also a much simpler system for staff to use and manage workloads as it keeps everything in one place.
Continuing with system modernisation we have been encouraging customers to use the new contact forms on our website rather than emailing us directly. This is again simpler for customers being able to send a message to us directly through the Council website and staff can simply see the query and respond with a answer or solution. The message can also be passed to another department if their input is needed.
All these system changes have been consistently tested by staff to ensure they are in the best working order and we welcome feedback from our customer on how they could be improved.
Team building and training
Since the start of the pandemic the Blue Badge and Concessionary Travel team have been working from home and continuing to provide the service. We are still operating in this way with some staff going into the office for necessary administration tasks, such as opening the post. We are running a full service and keeping our promise to customers with response times to emails and voicemails. Working from home can be difficult for team building but we have made sure to keep our morale high and close by keeping in contact with each other every day and having regular team training days all together. On these team days we highlight an area we would like to focus on and all work together to offer support and guidance to one another. We recently had a training day on our service processes to make sure we are all working consistently and doing what we can to provide the best service possible.
14. The Customer Journey
Customer Contact – A move to a Digital Customer Delivery
Our customer experience vision is to get things first time every time.
Providing a modern parking service means we need to understand the changing parking habits of residents and ensure the services provided reflect their needs. We have looked to implement new systems and processes to meet our aims and objectives of improving the customer experience.
The council is committed to providing comprehensive digital access to services, as this can be more convenient for customers - services can be accessed at a time of their choosing, rather than having to wait in a telephone queue or waiting for a response to an e-mail.
Many of these objectives are underpinned with digital solutions.
These included: -
· Improved Website design – this included a migration of the old parking pages to a new version which includes a navigation menu on the left-hand side of every page, therefore making it easier for our customers to glance find the information they require.
· My Account – This is a single-entry point to multiple Council services provided our customers with a simpler way to purchase permits online.
· Contact Management Forms – This is a framework where customer contact us via an online form which can be monitored and categorised. The Council and can use data from the Contract Management Forms to plan service improvements where necessary.
· Customers can contact us on Twitter for parking enquires and to raise awareness for road safety campaigns, such a promoting safer route to school and to encourage sustainability within transport, for example, by encouraging local walking and cycle routes.
Reviewing and improving these services is a continuous process, based on customer and staff feedback and analysis of user journeys.
Alongside this, customer service advisors are available to help customers who need support to self-service or who are experiencing any issues or barriers in accessing any of our services with parking and transport. We also support the use of the Customer Service Centres to help customers who require face to face help to access online services.
In 2021 / 22:
• The top 20 parking webpages attracts a monthly average of 150,000 visits
• 92% Customers paid their Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) online or via automated payment line
• 88% of customers who appealed their PCN, did it online
• 99% bought their residents permit online. *This is an increase of 49% .
• 99% bought a batch of visitor permits online
• 93% business & traders permits were renewed online
• 5500 (approx. per month) used our online forms to communicate with us
• 4000 Telephoned
15. Financial Information
Income by source |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
||
On-Street Parking Charges |
£7,108,666 |
£11,583,900 |
||
Parking Permit Income |
£8,743,901 |
£11,054,778 |
||
Penalty Charge Notices (inclusive of bad debt provision) |
£4,268,051 |
£8,416,604 |
||
Covid funding from central government |
£5,136,520 |
£460,055 |
||
Other Income |
£74,615 |
£149,354 |
||
Total |
£25,331,753 |
£31,664,690 |
||
Percentage change |
-7.76% |
25.00% |
||
Direct cost of Civil Parking Enforcement |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
||
Enforcement |
£4,501,734 |
£5,108,365 |
||
Admin, appeals, debt recovery & maintenance |
£3,258,156 |
£4,014,366 |
||
Scheme review / new schemes |
£1,150,022 |
£1,239,732 |
||
Capital Charges |
£1,267,822 |
£734,931 |
||
Total |
£10,177,734 |
£11,097,394 |
||
Percentage change |
-7.16% |
9.04% |
||
Surplus after direct Costs |
£15,154,019 |
£20,567,296 |
||
Percentage change |
-8.16% |
35.72% |
||
16. Where our income goes
Any surplus made through parking fees and charges has to be invested into transport and highways. This is a legal requirement. In 2021/22, after direct costs, there was a surplus of £20,567,296. The table below shows a year-on-year comparison of how surplus income was invested back into transport and highways.
Spending supported by civil parking enforcement income surplus |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
|
Concessionary fares |
£10,535,684 |
£10,655,014 |
|
Capital investment borrowing costs |
£1,854,964 |
£1,648,580 |
|
Supported bus services and other public transport services |
£1,499,372 |
£1,452,756 |
|
Contribution to eligible transport related expenditure |
£1,263,998 |
£6,810,946 |
Balancing line |
Total |
£15,154,018 |
£20,567,296 |
Use of surplus income from parking charges and penalty charges is governed by section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Once the need for provision of off-street parking facilities and to make good deficits to central funding has been met, use of surpluses is currently confined to the provision of public transport services or to road, air quality or environmental improvements.
Supported bus services
The Council supports some bus routes by subsidising the costs of running these services. The Council continued to provide funding for supported routes throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In the financial year 2021/22 the Council spent £1,452,756 on supporting bus services.
Concessionary bus fares
A mandatory bus concession for older and disabled people has been in place since 2001. The scheme has gradually been extended since its introduction and since April 2008 has provided free off-peak local bus travel to eligible older and disabled people anywhere in England.
The majority of the surplus is spent on providing free travel for both the elderly and disabled citizens. We continued to pay bus operators at pre pandemic levels adhering to guidance from the Department for Transport.
We spent £10,655,014 on this service in financial year 2021/22 and the Council have continued to support bus services with these payments throughout the pandemic.