Agenda item

Report ES20001

The Committee received a report on the performance of the Parking Services Contract held by APCOA Parking. The contract covered the enforcement of all civil parking restrictions within the Borough, the maintenance of car parks, all pay and display machine maintenance, cashless parking services and back office functions, excluding appeals against penalty charge notices. The report included a Sustainability report from Kim Challis, Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking. 

The report highlighted the efforts of officers to ensure that there was adequate deployment of Civil Enforcement Officers in accordance with the contract and that the contractor was achieving compliance. It also included information on car park usage to show whether additional enhancements could be made to encourage usage or whether there was a general trend of reduction in car park usage.

The Interim Head of Parking Services clarified that due to a formal enforcement policy change of a reduction in enforcement in seven roads in Bromley Town Centre, the PCN issue rate quoted at the time of the tender needed to be revised to reflect this. Currently the revised issue rate had not been agreed but would be for the start of the new financial year.

The Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking explained that there had been a large amount of pay and display machine break-ins.  All the break-ins had been reported to the police and APCOA were undertaking a review to identify any patterns of behaviour, consider what more could be done to secure the machines and ensure that cash in the machines was kept to a minimum.

In relation to pay and display machines breaking down, the Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking explained that the 34 pay and display machines that were being removed from various locations across the Borough would be given a full health check.  Any that were in good working order could be used to replace machines that had reached the end of their life or had been stolen. The 34 machines could also be used to provide spare parts.

The Committee discussed the issue of cashless payments replacing pay and display machines, noting that LB Southwark was now 99% cashless.  The Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking explained that a proposal had been made that a cashless parking pilot take place at a car park in Bromley.  As part of the pilot there would be a focus on promoting cashless parking and marketing the parking app.  It was hoped that the pilot would take place before April and the outcome of the pilot would be presented to Members.

Turing to the issue of reducing the carbon footprint, Members heard that APCOA were now carbon neutral in terms of paper and there was now a focus on vehicle emissions.  The Committee noted that in approximately 12 months’ time APCOA would roll out electric vehicles across the Bromley estate.  Staff across APCOA were also being incentivised to car share and use public transport in an effort to ensure that APCOA was carbon neutral by 2030.  In response to a question from the Chairman the Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking confirmed that it was hoped that the anti-idling measures would be in place within 6 weeks.

In relation to the retention of Civil Enforcement Officers, the Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking explained that whilst there was a range of reasons for staff leaving the primary reason could be attributed to pay.  Staff retention could also be seasonal for example some staff were able to secure higher paid work at Christmas but these staff then migrated back once the seasonal work had ended.  The Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking reported that the situation in terms of staff retention had improved although it was a constant challenge that was being managed.  The Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking agreed to provide information concerning roster and employee numbers following the meeting.

Members noted that handheld devices tracked the locations of Civil Enforcement Officers.  Each device had a unique reference number which was assigned to the individual users.  Civil Enforcement Officers could be tracked using coordinates.  Through the devices it would be possible to know if two Civil Enforcement Officers were working alongside each other.  It would also be possible to track the officers in the interests of health and safety as well as performance management.

Members noted that the KPIs for the 30 schools with school crossing patrols were stable and that in the last 18 months a solid service had been provided.  The Chairman reported that he was aware of two more schools wishing to have crossing patrols and the Regional Managing Director for APCOA Parking agreed that this could be discussed further.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman concerning the steps being taken to make car park users aware of the need to pay by phone if a pay and display machine was broken, the Head of Shared Parking Services explained that as this initiative would commence in April and officers were currently reviewing marketing and communication.  Signs would be displayed on pay and display machines and information would be published on the Council’s website.

The Head of Shared Parking Services also confirmed that LB Bexley was experiencing similar declines in the usage of cark parks.

In drawing the discussion to a close, the Chairman noted the work done by APCOA around installing solar panels on the top of car parks for energy generation, suggesting that it would be helpful if LB Bromley could benefit from APCOA’s experience in taking a similar initiative forward across the Borough.

On behalf of the Committee the Chairman thanked Ms Challis for attending the meeting and providing an update to Members.

RESOLVED that

(1) The contents of the report are noted and in particular the ongoing work to monitor that resources are adequately and efficiently deployed throughout the borough.

(2) The trends in on and off street usage for the pay and display machines be noted, along with the officers’ ongoing data analysis on these services to ensure that a good service is provided.