Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To provide the Committee with an update on the status of the Pay on Exit Parking Project and to provide a comparison between 2025/26 Quarter 1 and 2024/25 Quarter 1 parking transaction figures and the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued per car park.

RESOLVED: That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee noted the Quarter 1 update of the Pay on Exit Parking Project.

REASON FOR DECISION: This report is following the request of the Committee for an update on the Pay on Exit Parking Project and to provide a comparison between 2025/26 Quarter 1 and 2024/25 Quarter 1 parking transaction figures and the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued per car park.

Audio recording – 1 hour 0 minutes 45 seconds

Councillor Donna Wright, as Executive Member for Place, presented the report entitled ‘Update on Pay on Exit Parking in Council Operated Car Parks’ and advised that:

·                The Council commissioned Flowbird UK to replace parking machines across all its car parks.

·                New machines were touchscreen and ticketless with a check-in, check-out system that accepted contactless payments.

·                Signage was provided in every car park to inform users how to pay.

·                Except for Woodside Car Park in Hitchin, one machine in each car park accepted cash payments, and receipts were available in all car parks on request.

·                By late March, new machines had been installed in all car parks except for Norton Common and Hitchin Swimming Centre due to Traffic Regulation Orders.

·                A communication strategy had been in place through the rollout phase and comprised member briefings, press releases, website FAQs and social media engagement by the Communications Team to address concerns.

·                Support had also been provided by Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) and the Customer Service Centre.

·                Teething problems arising from the new machines included network connection issues which had caused delays to payments and penalty charge notices (PCNs) to be issued.

·                Touchscreen visibility was also a problem in the sunlight.

·                Planned fixes included the installation of industrial sim cards, modems, software resolutions, signage changes and the consideration of zoning adjacent car parks to provide alternative payment options.

·                Touchscreens would also be regularly cleaned to ensure visibility. 

·                New signage would address user confusion from some pre-paid ticket holders who had attempted to check-out when they did not need to, and blue badge and season ticket holders who were not required to register for a parking session.

·                PCNs had increased 61% from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025 partly due to users entering their Vehicle Registration Marks (VRMs) incorrectly under the new system, but also the recruitment of two more CEOs which had allowed for more coverage.

·                Challenges to PCNs had increased from 32% to 44% and of these, 78% had been cancelled compared to 66% in Q1 the previous year as a more lenient approach to PCN challenges had been taken during the rollout phase.

·                Despite initial problems, the new system had modernised their car parks and increased flexibility for users.

·                A 26% reduction in PCNs from April to July showed that the public were adapting to the new machines.

·                Most users had successfully continued to pay for parking since the rollout.

·                Even with the recent increase in PCNs, they still counted for less than 1% of all successful parking transactions.

·                Transaction volumes were up 6% overall, therefore, the new machines had not discouraged motorists from parking in Council owned car parks.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Ralph Muncer

·                Councillor Jon Clayden

·                Councillor Tina Bhartwas

·                Councillor Paul Ward

·                Councillor Martin Prescott

·                Councillor Claire Winchester

In response to questions, Councillor Donna Wright advised that:

·                Signage and information boards had been installed prior to the rollout phase and guidance including FAQs had been published on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22