How Civil Parking Enforcement operates in Gateshead
Prior to the introduction of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (now known as Civil Parking Enforcement or CPE) in Gateshead in July 2007, the police enforced parking offences, now known as parking contraventions. Limited efforts were devoted to this as there were many higher priority calls on their resources and very few parking contraventions were consequently detected.
Gateshead is a Special Enforcement Area, which means that the Councils are now responsible for enforcing parking contraventions rather than the police. Through an examination of the factors that provided the greatest long-term benefits in terms of quality of service, Gateshead Council took the decision to commence Decriminalised Parking Enforcement using an internal enforcement/internal notice processing system.
The parking enforcement team is an integrated component of the Neighbourhood Warden Service, benefiting from the strong links that this service has with key strategic partners such as the police, The Gateshead Housing Company and Nexus.
Key operational support to parking enforcement is provided by the service's Operations Centre at Shearlegs Road Depot, which operates 24 hours 7 days a week. This facility also offers potential for future traffic enforcement using CCTV systems.
Keeping Gateshead moving
Anyone who drives in Gateshead knows of the problems caused by one irresponsible motorist parking in the wrong place. The majority of motorists use the car parks and parking spaces correctly. But a vehicle parked incorrectly on a street or even a bus lane can not only be dangerous but cause delays, queuing and inconvenience for other road users.
How parking enforcement benefits everyone
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It reduces blocking of bus lanes and major traffic routes by inconsiderately parked vehicles
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It reduces parking by non-permit holders in residents' parking bays
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It reduces parking by non-blue badge holders in disabled parking bays
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It improves compliance with necessary parking restrictions
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It improves traffic management
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It encourages correct, sensible and safe parking in Gateshead
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It reduces congestion on the roads
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It helps the emergency services cross the Borough
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It makes it safer for drivers and pedestrians
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It enables buses to operate more effectively
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It improves air quality, health and the general environment
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It keeps Gateshead moving !!
What is income from parking enforcement spent on?
Whilst it is not intended to make any particular excess from parking enforcement activities, any surplus will only be spent on parking and enforcement initiatives.
Some useful tips
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There are no "grace periods" when resident parking permits expire, similarly a "pay and display" ticket should be clearly displayed in the vehicle at the time of arrival, and not purchased some time after arrival.
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Observation periods of around 5 minutes will be used to identify if parked vehicles are, for instance, unloading/loading on yellow lines where this is permitted; equally, some contraventions can attract instant PCNs.
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Particular care should be exercised when parking in a "pay and display bay", for instance, as it is not unusual to find different restrictions on use in the same street.
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CEOs will normally use digital cameras to take supporting photographs when serving PCNs; these photographs are usually available for viewing on-line by the driver/ owner of the vehicle within 24 hours and may also be sent out with a "Notice to Owner" form.
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PCNs may be served where vehicles are observed parked on "zig zag lines" on approaches to pedestrian crossings either by CEOs or by the Police.
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CEOs can inspect blue badges so we can ensure that they are both valid and also properly used by and on behalf of bona-fide disabled users.
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In certain instances PCNs may be posted where it may not be possible or impractical to serve tickets.
CEOs have very limited discretionary powers when it comes to parking enforcement and are not paid on the basis of the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) they serve. This is to ensure fairness, transparency and equality of treatment as well as preventing the possibility of corruption and minimising the risk of verbal/ physical assault. Despite this very necessary measure, legal action (with Police support) will be pursued in response to any unwarranted threats / assaults on these officers.
Once a Penalty Charge Notice has been printed, only authorised council officers in the Parking Services team have the ability to cancel it.
CEOs may serve a PCN where they observe a parking contravention, but there is a small amount of leeway in how they do this. If they see a driver parking in contravention they are expected to ask them to move the vehicle and will only normally serve the PCN if their request is refused or ignored.
(However, just because a CEO is nearby, it does not mean that they will always realise that a parking regulation is being contravened. An example of this would be if a CEO was observing another vehicle and they failed to register that another contravention was occurring nearby until after the fact, not because they want to serve a PCN, but because they were preoccupied with the task at hand. If you have seen them, it doesn't automatically follow that they have seen you).
We have two teams to administer CPE in Gateshead; one monitors the CEOs and ensures that they are doing all that they should and in the right fashion by checking that:-
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asigned patrol areas are covered;
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all streets are covered;
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enforcement requests are carried out on a timely basis;
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agreed guidelines are adhered to;
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behaviour is correct and approriate;
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parking contraventions are evenly and consistently enforced.
and the other team ensures that the penalty charge notices are processed in accordance with the statutory procedures.
The Parking Services team investigate, consider and answer any challenges made about a PCN, once it has been served. These highly trained Council officers operate within well defined guidelines, they consider each challenge on it's own merits and are authorised to uphold or cancel PCNs. They may cancel a PCN where they considered it was wrongly served or where they were satisfied that an exempt activity was taking place that wasn't observed by the CEO, such as loading/unloading-where permitted.
They also exercise discretion and may cancel a PCN where there are acceptable mitigating circumstances such as a genuine medical emergency or an unforseen and unavoidable vehicle breakdown.
We will publish our full accounts each year relating to the parking enforcement operation to ensure transparency and openess. This will include:
Financial:
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Total income+ expenditure of the on-street and off-street parking account
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A breakdown of income by source (e.g. parking and penalty charges)
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The total surplus or deficit of the on-street parking account
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Any action taken re a surplus or deficit of the on-street account, detailing allocation of money, including expected benefits.
Statistical:
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Number of higher level PCNs issued
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Number of lower level PCNs issued
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Number of PCNs paid
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Number of PCNs paid within 14 days
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Number of PCNs receiving a formal or informal representation
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Number of PCNs cancelled (i.e. where an informal or statutory representation is successful)
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Number of PCNs written off