Agenda item - Off-street Parking Enforcement Contract

The Executive are recommended to make the resolutions set out in the report at agenda item 10.

Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Enforcement and Regulatory Services.

The Executive RESOLVED to

I. Segregate cash collection and enforcement services.

II. Agree a short term six-month contract with Marston Group Ltd, NSL, for the provision of enforcement services only at a quoted value of £163,320, to allow time for the development of a business case for a long-term solution.

III. Delegate authority to the Joint Executive Head of Commercial Services to agree the final terms of cash collection services as long as the value of such contract falls below the key decision and non key decision threshold and subject to there being a waiver granted by the s151 officer.

Cllr Fairclough, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Enforcement and Regulatory Services, introduced the report and summarised:

· The recommendations were for a six-month extension to the current contract which would give the Council time to consider the delivery of Waverley off street parking and cash collection together with any opportunities there may be to work in collaboration with Guildford Borough Council as part of developing a car parking strategy for the future

· The extension allowed the Council to take stock and consider the available options as part of its wider sustainable transport considerations

· An Executive Working Group would conduct a review of the Council’s overall car parking policy and would examine the technologies and opportunities that exist.

Cllr Ken Reed, in attendance as Observer, had registered to speak in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 5.6 a). Councillor Reed stated:

· That the report appeared to contain insufficient information for the Executive to make a decision and it was unclear what was meant by seeking a long term solution, particularly whether this would be limited to compliance enforcement or a root and branch review of how the Council’s car parks operated

· That he was surprised to read that there were 7 Compliance Enforcement Officers (CEO) working on an ad-hoc rota around the Borough

· There was no explanation of how the rota was organised, but he had observed that a CEO was rarely seen in Cranleigh more than once per week

· Parking spaces in Cranleigh accounted for 15% of the total number of spaces in the Borough, and accordingly, the apportionment of CEO time spent in Cranleigh could, in his opinion, be increased to 5 days per week

· The ad-hoc rota, could arguably be replaced with fixed deployments of one FTE in Cranleigh, one in Haslemere, two in Godalming and three in Farnham for 5 days per week.

The Leader thanked Cllr Reed for his comments and advised that Officers would be asked to circulate the rota to Executive Members and Cllr Reed, together with some advice on how the rota operated. Whilst the rota would not be made publicly available, the Executive Working Group would use it to inform its considerations. Councillor Murray asked whether a quarterly summary of the locations where PCNs had been issued could be made available.

The Executive RESOLVED to

I. Segregate cash collection and enforcement services.

II. Agree a short term six-month contract with Marston Group Ltd, NSL, for the provision of enforcement services only at a quoted value of £163,320, to allow time for the development of a business case for a long-term solution.

III. Delegate authority to the Joint Executive Head of Commercial Services to agree the final terms of cash collection services as long as the value of such contract falls below the key decision and non key decision threshold and subject to there being a waiver granted by the s151 officer.

Reason

The current contract expires on the 31st of March 2024 and the procurement timelines were too tight to achieve an effective tender.