Agenda item

Safer, Greener & Transport Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-062-2015/16).

(1)        That the outcome of the scoping study by RTA Associates Limited into the alternative provisions for the delivery of off street parking arrangements, which concluded that the Council would have a clear financial benefit by withdrawing from the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) for the off street element of the agreement, be noted;

(2)        That, subject to agreement with the conclusion of the scoping study, notice be served on NEPP for the Council to withdraw the off street parking element from the Joint Committee before 31 March 2016, enabling the commencement of the new service by 1 April 2017;

(3)   That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer Greener and Transport to agree the formal notice to NEPP, in consultation with the Directors of Neighbourhoods and Governance;

(4)     That a further report be submitted to the Cabinet outlining the procurement strategy, potential savings and set up costs and timeline for the delivery of off street parking operations outside of NEPP;

(5)        That the Portfolio Holder Advisory Group already established for the review of the impact of the parking strategy be requested to consider the options for the future provision of off street parking arrangements; and

(6)        That Contract Standing Orders C4 (contracts exceeding £25,000 but not exceeding £50,000) and C11 (Contract selection) be waived to appoint RTA Associates to provide specialist advice in preparing the tender specifications and consultancy support during the procurement process.

The Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport presented a report on alternative options for the provision of the off street parking arrangements within the District.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) had been created in 2011 following the decision by Essex County Council (ECC) to terminate the agency agreement for the delivery of the Decriminalised Parking Enforcement. The Council had joined the Partnership in 2012 at the end of the then enforcement contract with Vinci Parks Limited. The delivery of on street parking operations had been delegated to the Partnership by the County Council and all six member local authorities, and Colchester Borough Council hosted the Joint Committee that oversaw this. However, joining the management arrangements for the off street operations was voluntary and only five of the authorities had chosen to be part of this arrangement. In 2012, before making the decision to join the off street element of the Partnership, the Council had requested Vinci Parks to quote for the delivery of the off street parking enforcement and cash collections.

The Portfolio Holder reported that RTA Associates were recently commissioned to carry out a scoping study to establish if the Council was getting value for money from the Partnership, in respect of off street operations only, and give advice on alternative delivery options. The advice from RTA Associates was that there was a clear advantage to the Council providing the off street parking enforcement, cash collection and administrative functions either directly in house, fully outsourced or a combination of both. Based on soft market testing, the Council could save from approximately £31,000 per annum for a fully in-house service to approximately £113,000 for a fully outsourced service.

The Portfolio Holder reported that if the Council was minded to leave the Partnership then, under the terms of the Joint Committee Agreement of 2011, notice of at least twelve months had to be served on the Lead Authority, to be co-terminus with the end of the financial year. By giving notice before 31 March 2016, the Council could commence the new arrangements from 1 April 2017.

In response to questions from the Members present, the Portfolio Holder re-iterated that if the Council withdrew from the Partnership for off street operations then the Council would only receive a service for on street operations from the Partnership. In this instance, the Portfolio Holder would liaise with the Partnership Manager based at Harlow to ensure that the District received the best possible service for on street operations from the Partnership. The new machines being installed at the Council’s off street car parks would have the facility to accept card payments, and that there would be at least one of these machines at each car park. The Assistant Director of Neighbourhoods (Technical Services) cautioned that there were some issues over how the Council received the money for card payments made by customers of the car parks, primarily revolving around the fees levied by the banks for such payments. Residents could also pay by mobile phone, which incurred a lower charge for the Council.

The Consultant in attendance from RTA Associates reassured the Cabinet that the soft market testing undertaken for the report gave confidence that the figures quoted were accurate, and that there would be savings from withdrawing from the Partnership for off street operations and undertaking a procurement exercise to outsource it. The Portfolio Holder added that the provision of the service in-house was the fall-back position if any issues arose during the procurement exercise.

In response to further questions from the Members present, the Portfolio Holder stated that not all of the Civil Enforcement Officers currently working in the District would be affected by the Council’s withdrawal from the Partnership for off street operations; it was anticipated that no more than four of the current Enforcement Officers within the District would be affected. In addition, the Partnership would have to re-evaluate its coverage of the Epping Forest District if the Council withdrew from off street operations, as there would then be two sets of Enforcement Officers patrolling the District. It was anticipated that the ‘My Permit’ scheme would continue unchanged, and that the coverage of Housing Estate off street parking schemes would need to be discussed with the Housing Portfolio Holder in due course. One option would be to introduce permits for these schemes. It was highly unlikely that the County Council would delegate the authority for on street parking enforcement to the District Council.

The Cabinet noted and welcomed that the Council would regain control of off street parking operations if it withdrew from the partnership; the Housing Portfolio Holder stated that he would be happy to discuss the future enforcement of housing estate parking schemes with his colleague for Safer, Greener and Transport.

Decision:

(1)        That the outcome of the scoping study by RTA Associates Limited into the alternative provisions for the delivery of off street parking arrangements, which concluded that the Council would have a clear financial benefit by withdrawing from the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) for the off street element of the agreement, be noted;

(2)        That, subject to agreement with the conclusion of the scoping study, notice be served on NEPP for the Council to withdraw the off street parking element from the Joint Committee before 31 March 2016, enabling the commencement of the new service by 1 April 2017;

(3)   That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer Greener and Transport to agree the formal notice to NEPP, in consultation with the Directors of Neighbourhoods and Governance;

(4)     That a further report be submitted to the Cabinet outlining the procurement strategy, potential savings and set up costs and timeline for the delivery of off street parking operations outside of NEPP;

(5)        That the Portfolio Holder Advisory Group already established for the review of the impact of the parking strategy be requested to consider the options for the future provision of off street parking arrangements; and

(6)        That Contract Standing Orders C4 (contracts exceeding £25,000 but not exceeding £50,000) and C11 (Contract selection) be waived to appoint RTA Associates to provide specialist advice in preparing the tender specifications and consultancy support during the procurement process.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure that the Council was getting value for money for the off street car parking enforcement, cash collection and administration services.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To ignore the outcomes of the scoping study and not consider alternative options for the delivery of the off street parking operations. The outcome of the RTA Associates study was very clear in that there were other delivery options available to the Council which could ensure a cost effective off street service.