Agenda item

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Mace)

 

Report of Corporate Director (Regeneration).

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Mace)

 

The Corporate Director (Regeneration) submitted a report asking members to consider the Annual Review of Parking Fees and Charges for 2009/10.

 

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment, were set out in the report as follows:

 

The following options for pay and display and public permits have been put forward for consideration. The temporary benefit of the reduced standard rate of VAT from 1^st April to 31^st December 2009 as outlined in paragraph 2.3 has been taken into account in the Financial Implications section of the report.

 

Option 1 a

 

This option is aimed at minimal price increases and achieving the budgetary commitments, but only after allowing for the VAT increase:

 

          Pay and Display

 

Tariff Description	Current Tariff	Proposed Tariff	Additional Income
Increase Up to 1 hour on all car parks	£0.90	£1.00	£23,000

 

This option limits the price increases as shown above and assumes that 60% of customers already pay £1.00 as per a sample analysis that has been undertaken. The City Council’s pay and display machines can be either programmed to accept overpayments and issue a pay and display ticket, or to reject incorrect payments and only accept the correct fee and not print a pay and display ticket. The City Council’s machines are programmed to allow the customer to purchase their pay and display ticket.

 

Total estimated additional income for Option 1 a - £23,000

 

Option 1 b

 

This option is aimed at discouraging long stay parking whilst addressing the budgetary commitments:

 

          Pay and Display

 

Tariff Description	Current Tariff	Proposed Tariff	Additional Income
Increase Up to 1 hour on all car parks	£0.90	£1.00	£23,000
Long Stay Car Parks
Increase Up to 3 hours	£2.00	£2.20	£15,000
Increase Over 3 hours (Morecambe)	£3.00	£3.20	£4,500
Increase Up to 5 hours (Lancaster)	£3.50	£3.70	£2,000

 

          Public Permit Charges

 

Permit Type	Current Tariff	Proposed Tariff	Additional Income
Increase Lancaster and Morecambe General Permit by 15%	£770.00	£885.00	£12,200
Increase Morecambe General Permit by 5% (see Note 1)	£475.00	£500.00	£800
Increase Specific Permit by 15%	£1,230.00	£1,415.00	£1,900

 

 

Note 1: The Morecambe permit will not sustain a 15% increase due to the daily cost of all day long stay parking in Morecambe being £3.00 compared with £6.00 in Lancaster.

 

          This option is directly linked to the Parking Strategy in that it discourages long stay parking. Resistance and reduced sales has been allowed for in calculating the estimated income that is outlined in the table at paragraph 3.2 of the report.

 

          Under this option it is also suggested that officers investigate the introduction of Green Permit options for next year’s review. This would potentially allow price reductions for vehicles with low cubic capacity or low emissions but research would have to be undertaken with other Council’s to gauge the success of this type of scheme and to see how administrative and enforcement arrangements are dealt with.

 

          Total estimated additional income for Option 1 b - £59,400

 

Option 1 c

 

This option proposes a range of increases across short stay and long stay car parks and increases public permits by approximately inflation. 

 

          Pay and Display

 

Tariff Description	Current Tariff	Proposed Tariff	Additional Income
Increase Up to 1 hour on all car parks	£0.90	£1.00	£23,000
Short Stay Car Parks
Increase Up to 3 hours	£2.40	£2.50	£7,000
Increase Up to 4 hours	£3.20	£3.40	£6,000
Long Stay Car Parks
Increase Up to 3 hour charge	£2.00	£2.20	£15,000
Increase Over 3 hours (Morecambe)	£3.00	£3.20	£4,500
Increase Up to 5 hours (Lancaster)	£3.50	£3.70	£2,000

 

            Public Permit Charges

 

Permit Type	Current Tariff	Proposed Tariff	Additional Income
Increase Lancaster and Morecambe General Permit by 5%	£770.00	£810.00	£8,800
Increase Morecambe General Permit by 5%	£475.00	£500.00	£800
Increase Specific Permit by 5%	£1,230.00	£1,290.00	£1,800

 

This option recommends a range of inflationary increases for pay and display and public permits and is primarily aimed at achieving the budgetary commitments in 2009/10 and subsequent years.

 

This option meets some of the aims of the Parking Strategy in that it allows the continuation of making provision for longer stay parking in peripheral car parks and for business users by providing contract parking at a limited number of car parks. However, applying only inflationary increases does not address concerns about the level of commuter parking and the wider aims of reducing long stay parking particularly in Lancaster city centre.

 

          Total estimated additional income for Option 1 c - £68,900

 

Staff and Member Permits

 

Following the review of Employee and Elected Member Parking in July 2008, Cabinet now needs to determine the level of charges in line with the minute outlined at paragraph 3.3 of the report. 

 

Option 2 is limited to applying inflation to the current charges for 24-7 permits and Option 3 has several options for determining the charges for 24-5 permits.

 

Option 2

Inflation added to Current 24-7 Permit Charges

The current Staff and Member permit charges were set in December 2007. Applying the rate of inflation from this date until the end of October results in proposed 24/7 permit charges from 1^st April 2009 as follows: 

         

Permit	Current Charge	Proposed Charge
Staff General	£190.00	£200.00
Staff Specific	£320.00	£330.00
Member	£190.00	£200.00

 

Option 3

Options for 24-5 Permits

 

As previously mentioned Cabinet has already approved the implementation of an option to introduce a separately priced 5-day permit [i.e. 24-5] for all permit holders with effect from 1^st April 2009. This was on the basis that the permit would be at a lower cost than the equivalent 24-7 permit.

 

A number of options are included in the following table for the 24-5 permit ranging from a reduction of 5% to a reduced charge based on 5/7ths of the proposed 24-7 permit.

Option 3	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
Permit Type	Less 5%	Less 10%	Less 15%	Less 20%	5/7 of 24-7
Staff General	£190.00	£180.00	£170.00	£160.00	£145.00
Staff Specific	£315.00	£300.00	£280.00	£265.00	£235.00
Member	£190.00	£180.00	£170.00	£160.00	£145.00

 

It is extremely difficult to estimate the uptake of the 24-5 permit and therefore the financial implications of each charging option. However, if all permit holders elect to purchase the 24-5 permit at the price detailed under option (e) then it would result in a reduction of income estimated at £13,600 per annum.

 

Cabinet has since approved the Parking Strategy and the policy documents that inform the strategy support the reduction of commuter and long stay parking in town and city centres. The City Council is also faced with managing the reduction in long stay parking in Lancaster city centre as part of the proposed Canal Corridor redevelopment.  

 

In setting the level of discount offered Cabinet needs to consider the impact on both the management of parking and the existing budgetary commitments. Although increasing the level of discount is likely to increase sales and therefore reduce the financial impact, the sustainability and parking management issues are considered to more important in policy terms.  

 

It is therefore recommended that Option 3 (a) is approved for setting the 24-5 permit charges.

 

On-Street Pay and Display Charges

 

As previously outlined at paragraph 3.5 on-street charges should be higher than off-street charges. Under Options 1a, 1b and 1c it is proposed to increase the Up to 1 hour off-street charge from £0.90 to £1.00. The following increased charges are therefore recommended:

 

Charges	Current	Recommended
Tariff 1 Castle Hill (spaces for TIC)	Up to ½ hour – 50p	Up to ½ hour – 60p
Tariff 2 e.g. Dalton Square/ Church Street	Up to ½ hour – 50p Up to 1 hour - £1.00	Up to ½ hour – 60p Up to 1 hour - £1.20
Tariff 3 e.g. Robert street/ Quarry Road	Up to 1 hour - £1.00	Up to 1 hour - £1.20
Tariff 4 e.g. High Street/ Queen Street	Up to 1 hour - £1.00 Up to 2 hours - £2.00	Up to 1 hour - £1.20 Up to 2 hours - £2.00 (No change)

 

The recommended charges represent a 20% increase with the exception of the 2 hour charge where no increase is proposed due to the off-street charge being £1.60. These charges are sometimes perceived as the City Council’s charges rather than the County Council’s charges. However, if approved, further increases would not be required for several years as there would be sufficient headroom for the 1 hour off-street charge to be subsequently increased from £1.00 to £1.10 as part of future annual reviews. It is also expected the proposed charges would re-encourage the use of off-street car parks.

 

The officer preferred options are listed below and are based on the background information and the options and options analysis supplied within this report:

 

1)            Option 1b for pay and display and public permit charges as this meets the requirements of the Parking Strategy whilst also exceeding the income requirements.

 

2)            Option 2 for the 24-7 Staff and Member Permit charges.

 

3)            Option 3 (a) for the 24-5 Staff and Member Permit charges asthis meets the requirements of Cabinet’s earlier decision whilst also addressing the requirements of the Parking Strategy and minimising any potential financial implications.

 

4)            To finalise discussions with Lancashire County Council over increased on-street pay and display charges for 2009/10.

 

Options for a 24-5 public permit were circulated at the meeting. Under Option 1b, the officer preferred option, the costs were set out as follows:

 

For a Lancaster permit £840; a Morecambe permit £475; a specific permit £1,345 (i.e. a reduction from the 24-7 permit cost as identified in Option 1b)

 

For Option 1c the costs were set out as follows:

 

For a Lancaster permit £770; a Morecambe permit £475; a specific permit £1,230 (i.e. a reduction from the 24-7 permit cost as identified in Option 1c)

 

Discussion of this item was adjourned for officers to obtain information requested by Cabinet Members and to allow Cabinet to proceed with the agenda. Discussion of this item then re-commenced when the information was available.

 

It was moved by Councillor Mace and seconded by Councillor Charles:-

 

“(1)      That Option 1b for Pay and Display for 2009/10 be approved

 

(2)               That Option 1c for Public Permit Charges for 2009/10 be approved

 

(3)               That Option 2 for the 24-7 Staff and Member Permit Charges for 2009/10 be approved

 

(4)               That Option 3a for the 24-5 Staff and Member Permit Charges for 2009/10 be approved

 

(5)               To confirm the City Council recommends that Lancashire County Council increases on-street pay and display charges for 2009/10 as outlined in paragraph 5.7 of the report.

 

(6)               That new 24-5 public permits be introduced and that the charge for these 24-5 permits be set at 5% less than the 24-7 tariffs set out in Option 1c of the report, equating to £770 for a Lancaster permit; £475 for a Morecambe permit and £1,230 for a specific permit.”

 

By way of amendment to (1) above, Councillor Barry proposed:

 

“(1)      That Option 1c for Pay and Display for 2009/10 be approved

 

The Chairman advised that there was no seconder to the amendment and it was, therefore, declared lost.

 

By way of amendment to (3) above, Councillor Barry proposed and Councillor Gilbert seconded:

 

(3)               That 24-7 permits should not be made available to Councillors and staff who do not work weekends.”

 

2 Members (Councillors Barry and Gilbert) voted for the amendment, 6 Members voted against the amendment (Councillors Archer, Bryning, Burns, Charles, Kerr and Mace) and 1 Member (Councillor Blamire) abstained, whereupon the Chairman declared the amendment lost.

 

Members then voted on each recommendation as follows:-

 

Resolved:

 

(8 Members (Councillors Archer, Blamire, Bryning, Burns, Charles, Gilbert, Kerr and Mace) voted in favour and 1 Member (Councillor Barry) voted against)

 

(1)     To approve Option 1b for Pay and Display for 2009/10.

 

Resolved unanimously:

 

 (2)    To approve Option 1c for Public Permit Charges for 2009/10.

 

Resolved:

 

(6 Members (Councillors Archer, Bryning, Burns, Charles, Kerr and Mace) voted in favour, 1 Member voted against (Councillor Gilbert) and 2 Members (Councillors Barry and Blamire) abstained)

 

(3)     To approve Option 2 for the 24-7 Staff and Member Permit Charges for 2009/10.

 

Resolved:

 

(7 Members (Councillors Archer, Blamire, Bryning, Burns, Charles, Kerr and Mace) voted in favour and 2 Members (Councillors Barry and Gilbert) abstained)

 

(4)     That Option 3a for the 24-5 Staff and Member Permit Charges for 2009/10 be approved.

 

Resolved:

 

(8 Members (Councillors Archer, Barry, Blamire, Bryning, Burns, Charles, Kerr and Mace) voted in favour and 1 Member (Councillor Gilbert) abstained)

 

(5)     To confirm the City Council recommends that Lancashire County Council increases on-street pay and display charges for 2009/10 as outlined in paragraph 5.7 of this report.

 

Resolved:

 

(8 Members (Councillors Archer, Barry, Blamire, Bryning, Charles, Gilbert, Kerr and Mace) voted in favour and 1 Member (Councillor Burns) abstained)

 

(6)         That new 24-5 public permits be introduced and that the charge for these 24-5 permits be set at 5% less than the 24-7 tariffs set out in Option 1c of the report, equating to £770 for a Lancaster permit; £475 for a Morecambe permit and £1,230 for a specific permit.

 

Officers responsible for effecting the decision:

 

Corporate Director (Regeneration)

Head of Property Services

 

Reasons for making the decision:

 

The City Council reviews parking fees and charges annually to meet its transportation policy and budget commitments.