The annual awards which are organised by PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) recognises the local authorities who have published the best reports on their parking services, as part of their civil enforcement reporting. The best report is judged on the overall presentation, how helpful it is to the local community, the policies, scheme design and the quality of the information provided.
The award was received on behalf of the council by the Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Anne Pissaridou, and City Transport officers Charles Field, Head of Parking Services and Paul Nicholls, Parking Strategy and Contracts Manager.
Parking annual report highlights
The council’s annual parking report offers an overview of parking in the city, highlighting new initiatives and developing trends, with the continuing aim of improving our services for both residents and visitors. The tenth annual report was published in October 2018 and highlighted a number of major developments that have taken place in the city, including the completion of a large-scale project to replace and upgrade all of the city's pay-and-display ticket machines, with over 800 new solar-powered machines.
Re-investing in city transport
In 2017/18 the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued fell by 8%, while parking surplus income rose 11% to £15,209,926. Most of our surplus is spent on providing free bus passes for older and disabled people. The rest of the money is re-invested back into other transport projects including highway maintenance such as resurfacing roads and repairing potholes and pavements.
How we manage parking charges
Parking charges are used by councils to manage traffic and fairly share out limited road and parking space. While most of the city’s paid parking has for many years remained at £1 per hour, this year new parking charges have been brought in to help manage high-demand times and areas. Charges are set at a higher level in the city centre to reduce demand for on-street parking which helps improve air quality and ease congestion at busy locations. Fees and charges are reviewed annually to ensure they provide value for money.
Congratulations to the parking team
Councillor Anne Pissaridou said: “We are delighted to receive this internationally recognised award for our work and I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to produce the report. The parking annual report is a critical aspect of our civil parking and traffic enforcement work and provides an opportunity for us to demonstrate the value of the city’s publicly operated parking to our residents, in an open and transparent way. We look forward to building on this success and engaging with our residents on the exciting developments planned for this year, including the installation of 200 Electric Vehicle on-street charging points.”