On-street parking and Bus Lane Enforcement Accounts

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The Council is required to maintain a separate account of its on-street parking business activities and to report the outcome and the use made of any surplus generated annually to the Mayor of London. The account must contain all expenditure and income in relation to the provision, management and enforcement of on-street parking in the Borough.

The use of any surplus is governed by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1984 which specifies that the surplus may be used for:-

1.    making good to the General Fund for any deficits incurred in the On-Street Parking Account during the previous four years; or

2.    meeting the cost of the provision and maintenance of off-street car parking in the Borough, or in another Local Authority. (In 2001 the Council Cabinet agreed that further off-street public parking could be considered unnecessary in the light of the funded proposal to build Seven Kings car park and the absence of any proposals for new parking facilities in the District Centres or the remainder of the Borough).

If, however, it is considered unnecessary or undesirable to provide further off-street parking in this area, the surplus may then be used to fund any of the following:-

1. public passenger transport services;
2. highway improvement works;
3. highway maintenance; or
4. the costs of anything that has the approval of the Mayor of London and which facilitates the implementation of the Mayor's transport strategy.

Any unspent surplus in the accounts has to be carried forward in the account or allocated to fund future spending projects. Any unspent project money has to be returned to the account.

The surplus generated last year was £1,326,803.82 compared to £1,461,973.43 for the previous year indicating a decrease within the account which reflects the economic position at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

During the year Penalty Charge Notice issue levels and revenue continued to decline, which gives a general indication that the level of enforcement deployed is delivering improved compliance with parking controls and restrictions. In July 2007 a new differential charging structure for penalty notices was introduced. The charge for the more serious contraventions was raised from £80 to £100, whilst those for less serious contraventions was reduced from £80 to £60. The net impact was that PCN revenue was maintained at the previous year's level, indicating that Enforcement Officers have been concentrating their efforts towards the more serious contraventions that impact on access and safety.

The following table illustrates the year on year comparison.

Financial Year Reporting	Enforcement Hours Deployed	PCN's issued (*High Tariff from 1/07/2007)	PCN's issued (*Low Tariff from 1/07/2007)	PCN Receipts
2005/6	90,736	63,980	n/a	£2,118.455
2006/7	68,081	61,816	n/a	£1,990,361
2007/8	63,170	14,146 27,205(*)	n/a 13,424(*)	£2,011,959
2008/9	64,825	34,123	18,121	£2,030,413.98

At its meeting on 12 February 2009, Executive agreed a programme of expenditure for the accrued parking account surplus for 2008/9 and the estimated surplus for 2009/10. The proposal was approved in the Council budget.

During 2008/9, a total of £1,301,401.60 from the parking account surplus was expended on approved projects and revenue funding within the Council's budgets. This programme is continuing.

The net surplus in the account as at 31 March 2009 stands at £977,141.28. There are a number of capital and revenue commitments allocated against this and future surpluses. A report to consider proposals for any further funding from the Parking Account surplus will be considered as part of the Council's budget process later in the year.

Item	£
Suspensions	66,213.00cr
Meter Receipts	1,462,665.00cr
Permit Receipts	726,813.20cr
Penalty Charges	2,030,413.98cr
Miscellaneous	5,910.76cr

Income Subtotal: £4,292,015.94cr

Item	£
Direct Salaries and Staff Costs	738,007.88
Maintenance/Equipment	183,330.73

Item	£
Publicity and Printing	25,360.84
Patrols and Processing	1,516,001.34
Fees and Charges	109,421.93
LC TEC Charges	40,157.63
Court Registration Fees	37,979.00

Item	£
Environmental Services	112,352.77
Other Directorates	202,600.00

Expenditure Subtotal:  £2,965,212.12

      £1,326,803.82 crr

Parking Surplus Account

Item	£
Concessionary Fares Scheme	852,000.00
Park and Ride Subsidy	64,600.00
Car Parks Repair and Maintenance Programme	197,100.00
Traffic Management Highway Improvement Schemes	36,000.00

Item	£
Quality improvements in Car Parks	24,591.66
Penalty Notice Processing System	45,000.00
Conversion to Pay on Foot Operation (Bittoms car park)	33,998.66
MSCP Structural Repairs Programme	6,538.30
Controlled Parking Zone	31,680.33
CPZ Reviews (Surbiton area)	7,702.99
CCTV Systems (Bittoms & Blagdon Road)	28,742.33cr
Card Payment Facilities at Car Parks	546.80
School Keep Clear - Neighbourhoods	26,270.85

£1,301,401.60

CCTV Bus Lane Enforcement Account

The Council is required to maintain a separate account of its Bus Lane enforcement activities and report annually to the Secretary of State on its oucome and the use made of any surplus generated. The account must contain all expenditure and income in relation to the provision, management and CCTV enforcement of Bus Lanes in the Borough.

The use of any surplus in the CCTV Bus Lane enforcement accoun is governed by Schedule 2 of the London Local Authorities Act 1996. The legislation specifies that the surplus may be used for:-

• making good to the General Fund for any deficits incurred in the On-Street Parking Account during the previous four years;
• meeting costs incurred in the provision or operation of public transport services or facilities for publi transport services;
• highway improvement works.

The levels of activity recorded for the year alongside the previous year for comparison are set out below

Bus Lane Enforcement	2006/07	2007/08	2008/9
Hours of CCTV Monitoring	838	548	544.5
No. of PCNs issued	4,489	2,442	2,842
No. of PCNs paid	2,825	2,065	2,299
No. of PCNs paid at discount rate	2,615	1,844	2,149

During 2008/09 the net surplus from CCTV enforcement was £128,611.34. This compares to a surplus of £62,786.08 in the previous year. A total of £65,300 from the bus lane enforcement surplus was expended on revenue funding of the concessionary fares scheme which includes the additional £10,300 needed to support the overspend on the Park & Ride Service. A report to consider proposals for future funding from the Bus Lane Enforcement Account surplus will be considered as part of the Council's budget process later in the year.

Item	£
Penalty Charges	173,853.52 Cr

Item	£
Direct Salaries and Staff Costs	9,926.901
Maintenance and Equipment	1,964.96

Item	£
Enforcement and Processing	15,304.59
Fees & Charges	9,251.73

Item	£
LC TEC Charges	3,194.00

Item	£
Environmental Services	5,600.00

Expenditure Subtotal: £47,718.92

£128,611.34 Cr

Statement of CCTV Bus Lane Enforcement Surplus Account

CCTV Bus Lane Enforcement Account Funded Expenditure

Revenue Expenditure	Amount
Concessionary Fares Scheme	£55,000.00
Park & Ride Subsidy	£10,300.00
Total	£65,300.00

The general principles adopted in compiling the accounts conform to the requirements of the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting - A Statement of Recommended practice 2006 (ACOP), published by the Chartered Insitute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Revenue accounts are prepared on an income and expenditure basis in accordance with the Code of Practice and S.S.A.P.2. The accounts therefore include all sums due to the Council and all sums payable by the Council for goods and services provided or received during the year. Estimated accounts are included where the actual amounts are not known at the time of closing the accounts.