Agenda item - Phone parking contract tender

Report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture

That the Environment Transport & Sustainability Committee grant delegated authority to the Executive Director for Economy Environment and Culture to take all steps necessary to:

1)           Procure and award a new phone parking contract for a term of two years

2)           Approve an extension to the contract referred to in 2.2 above for a period of up to three years following the initial two year term, subject to satisfactory performance by the provider

15.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture that sought approval to undertake a competitive tendering process to procure and award a new phone parking contract.

15.2      Councillor Miller noted that the current system charged 30p for a text with a receipt and asked if consideration could be given to making the facility opt-in rather than opt-out.

15.3      The Parking Strategy & Contracts Manager clarified that the issue had been raised with the provider however, the app was based on a national model and the app had been built to be opt-out rather than opt-in. The Parking Strategy & Contracts Manager stated that other areas of the country used a gateway system where users could choose one of multiple apps and was something that could be considered in the future.

15.4      Councillor Wares noted that more residents and visitors were paying for parking by phone and asked if that could give opportunity to reduce the 10p cost of service.

15.5      The Parking Strategy & Contracts Manager clarified that there was a fixed fee for every card payment that the 10p service charge covered so there was currently no opportunity to reduce the fee.

15.6      RESOLVED- That the Environment Transport & Sustainability Committee grant delegated authority to the Executive Director for Economy Environment and Culture to take all steps necessary to:

1)           Procure and award a new phone parking contract for a term of two years.

2)           Approve an extension to the contract referred to in 2.2 above for a period of up to three years following the initial two year term, subject to satisfactory performance by the provider.