Agenda item

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/46) on Changes to Parking Permits (Civil Parking Enforcement), attached.

An Impact Assessment is also attached for the attention of Members at this meeting and is available on the website at - https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/published/.

RESOLVED

(a) that the progress on the Residents Parking Permit Scheme be noted; and

(b) that the implementation of the Traffic Regulation Order as advertised be agreed, except for the recommended reduction in charge for Essential Visitor Permits, and amendments for Exeter Zone S1 and Sidmouth Zone A (as described in Section 4), noting the clarified the clarification that the lowest emitting vehicles (Electric and Ultra Low) (A) would be £35 for all permits.

(Councillors Prowse, Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/46) on Changes to Parking Permits (Civil Parking Enforcement), circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

Further to the agreement of a new Residents Parking Policy at Cabinet on 9th December 2020, the Report sets out the response to the statutory public consultation earlier this year, proposals to make changes to the advertised Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) as a result of the consultation, and the implementation process.

The Traffic Regulation Order had been advertised on 1^st June 2022 for one month, with an advert in the Western Morning News and proposals directly marketed to over 14,000 active permit holders (approximately 47% of all permit holders) who had provided email details. Information was also available on the public web pages: http://devon.cc/cpetro.

A summary of the proposed changes could be found in Appendix B of the Report.

769 responses had been received and the most frequently voiced comments by respondents included;

·         Timing and justification for price increases

·         Fairness of tiering prices based on car tax bands

·         Permit abuse and need to better enforce zones

·         Reduction in number of visitors allowed and increase in price

·         Opposition to new charges for the essential visitor permit and charges for motorcycles

·         Unfair to those with no online access. Preference for paper permits

·         Blocking access to permits to businesses, house in multiple occupation (HMO) residents and students

The full summary of responses received to the proposals, including new permit prices and transformation to digital permits were outlined in Appendix C along with responses to the points made.

A number of amendments were considered following the consultation

·         concerns relating to the application of charges for Essential Visitor Permits were understood and it was proposed these were modified to reduce the cost to £10;

·         it was noted that Exeter S1 zone was unique due to its active times being limited to Exeter Chiefs Rugby Match Days and residents receiving refunds for permit costs from that club therefore it was proposed that paper permits and charges would be maintained.

·         Sidmouth Zone A also had a unique ruleset on how permits were issued, therefore paper permits would be maintained and the differential charge could not be applied.

It was proposed to phase out the issuing of paper permits in favour of virtual permits at the time of renewal for existing permit holders, or at time of first purchase for new occupiers in properties in resident permit zones. The change over would take a year to complete. The tiered pricing structure linked to the number of permits held by a property owner and the vehicle’s cars emissions (Based upon tax band or engine size for vehicles registered pre-2001) would be implemented at the same time.

Appendix A included a table explaining the schedule of charges, DVLA tax bands and provides examples of the popular makes and models currently on our roads and which band they fell into. It was also clarified that the lowest emitting vehicles (Electric and Ultra Low) (A) would be £35 for all permits (1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd), not the figures outlined in row 1 of Appendix A.

The previously agreed policy position and the proposals to link permit charges to emissions aligned with the Authority’s Strategic Plan 2021 – 2025 to address climate change; by encouraging moves towards sustainable lifestyles and use of other modes of transport, which also aligned with the County’s Local Transport Plan.

The last time permit prices rose was in 2015, in the past 7 years the Consumer Price Index has increased approximately 19.5%. The increase in base charge for residents parking permits was approximately 17%.

In progressing this proposal, an Impact Assessment had been prepared which had been circulated with the agenda for the meeting - Impact Assessment - Residents Parking Policy.pdf (devon.gov.uk).  

The equality issues relating to these proposals had been considered as part of the report to Cabinet in December 2020 seeking approval of the new Residents Permit Parking Policy and permission to consult on changes to digital permits and tiered emission-based charging.

Concerns raised regarding lack of access to online facilities to buy and manage an online account would be overcome by the customer contacting the Council’s contact centre or MiPermit helpline where an advisor would process an application on their behalf.

It was recommended that the changes to the advertised TRO as outlined in Section 4 of the Report were an appropriate response to the consultation. The concerns over the increase in permit cost were noted, however, these were justified to ensure a sustainable service going forward and to encourage the uptake of lower emission vehicles.

The Cabinet Member for Highways Management commented that the proposal improved enforcement and ensured that the service continued to self-fund without additional contributions from other budgets.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability (including carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations) as set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hughes, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the progress on the Residents Parking Permit Scheme be noted; and

(b) that the implementation of the Traffic Regulation Order as advertised be agreed, except for the recommended reduction in charge for Essential Visitor Permits, and amendments for Exeter Zone S1 and Sidmouth Zone A (as described in Section 4), noting the clarified the clarification that the lowest emitting vehicles (Electric and Ultra Low) (A) would be £35 for all permits.

(NB: The Impact Assessment referred to above may be viewed alongside Minutes of this meeting and was available at Impact Assessment - Residents Parking Policy.pdf (devon.gov.uk).