Policies relating to parking enforcement
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information. This information is requested for some research I am undertaking into Councils enforcement of blue badges. Please may you provide me with: 1) Blue Badge Policy Does your council have a specific policy for blue badge enforcement? If yes, could you please provide a copy of this policy or direct me to where it can be accessed online? 2) Enforcement Personnel Does your council directly employ staff, or use third-party contractors, for blue badge enforcement and investigations? If so, how many personnel are dedicated to these tasks and what was the total cost incurred for these services in the financial year 2023/2024? 3) Civil Enforcement Officers How many Civil Enforcement Officers are employed by your council to manage parking regulations, including blue badge enforcement, within your jurisdiction? Are these officers employed directly by the council or through a third-party contractor? 4) Penalty Charge Notices How many Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued by your council in the financial year 2023/2024? Of these, how many were specifically related to blue badge offences? 5) Blue Badge Issuance How many blue badges were issued by your council in the financial year 2023/2024? 6) Procedural Framework Could you outline the current procedural framework your council employs for blue badge enforcement? 7) Prosecutions for Misuse Does your council prosecute individuals for blue badge fraud or misuse? If so, how many prosecutions were carried out in the financial year 2023/2024? Can you provide a breakdown of the cases taken forward for prosecution, and how many cases were successful and unsuccessful? Can you quantify the cost to the Council for pursuing these prosecutions? Has the Council dealt with any cases via way of an out of court disposal, such as a Caution or Written warning? If so, how many of these were there in the financial year 2023/2024 8) Lack of Prosecutions If there were under 10 prosecutions for blue badge fraud or misuse in the financial year 2023/2024, could you please explain the reasons for this? 9) Contact Information Who is the Head of Parking or the person responsible for overseeing all parking matters within your council? Could you provide their email address? 10) Technology and Systems What technologies and systems does your council use to support blue badge enforcement, such as digital databases or automated detection systems? 11) Challenges and Effectiveness What are the primary challenges faced by your council in enforcing blue badge regulations? How does your council measure the effectiveness of its blue badge enforcement efforts? 12) Future Plans Are there any planned changes or improvements to blue badge enforcement strategies in the near future? 13) Controlled Parking Zones How many controlled parking zones (CPZs) are currently operated within your council's jurisdiction? Do you have plans within the next 5 years to expand any existing CPzs or create any new CPZs? 14) Dedicated Blue Badge Spaces "How many dedicated parking spaces for blue badge holders are available within your controlled parking zones? Are there plans to increase this number?" 15) Parking Income What was the total income generated from parking, including fines from blue badge violations, in the financial year 2023/2024? 16) Partnerships and collaboration Does your council collaborate with any external organizations or other councils to enhance blue badge enforcement? If so, can you detail the nature of these partnerships? If any other organisation has supported you, whether in a commercial relationship or not, can you detail any results obtained from them i.e Number of prosecutions or warnings achieved in the financial year 2023/24. 17) Enforcement Technology Innovations Are there any recent or planned technological innovations that your council is considering to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of blue badge enforcement? 18) Penalty Charge Notice Debt How much debt current does your council have in relation to PCNs i.e How much debt is currently outstanding on unpaid PCNs at the time of replying to this FOI request? How much 'bad debt' have you written off in the last 5 financial years? This is PCN debt that you were unable to recover? 19) Debt Recovery Can you confirm what your process is for recovering unpaid PCN debt? If you use an external 3rd party for this debt recovery, can you confirm who this? Can you also confirm (i) The cost incurred to you for the last 3 individual financial years for the use of their services, (ii) The amount of debt that they have successfully recovered for you in each of the 3 individual financial years, (iii) The amount of debt that they have not been able to recover and was written off, and (iv) Why was this debt written off and why where they unable to recover it.