PARKING SERVICES

ANNUAL REPORT
2008/2009
1
Introduction

The provision and management of Council controlled parking in Sunderland is

a very important function undertaken by the Council. Parking can be the
subject of intense public interest including attracting both local and national
media. The Council’s primary aims related to parking management are to
improve road safety, reduce congestion in the interests of all highway users
and support the economic activity and viability of the city centre and other
local centres.

Up to the 30th March 2008 Sunderland City Council operated parking

enforcement under decriminalised parking enforcement (dpe) legislation in
accordance with The Road Traffic Act 1991. From the 31st March 2008 the
Council has operated parking under civil parking enforcement legislation in
accordance with the Traffic Management Act 2004. Under the new Act
decriminalised parking enforcement became civil parking enforcement,
Permitted Parking Areas and Special Parking Areas became Civil Parking
Areas and Special Enforcement Areas and Parking Attendants were re-named
Civil Enforcement Officers.

The Traffic Management Act 2004 states that Enforcement Authorities should
produce an annual report regarding their enforcement activities. The report
should be published and as a minimum it should cover the financial, statistical
and other data (including any parking or CPE targets). This report describes
these parking and other related activities undertaken by the Council.

The rationale behind this report is that it helps to make it clear that the Council
is operating the scheme satisfactorily and transparently, and in such a way
that enables the public to see that this is the case, which in turn helps to
increase the public’s understanding of civil parking enforcement at a local
level.

Parking Policies

The Councils transport priorities are to improve safety, accessibility, air quality
and to reduce congestion. Parking facilities and the way they are used
contribute to achieving these priorities, and it is important therefore that they
are appropriately managed and controlled.

Parking policies are an integral part of the Council’s local transport strategy.
In accordance with the Department for Transport’s “Full Guidance on Local
Transport Plans” the Council’s policies are aimed at tackling congestion and
changing travel behaviour.

In setting those policies the Council has taken account of;

● Existing and projected levels of demand for parking by all classes of

vehicle

● The justification for and accuracy of existing Traffic Regulation Orders

2
● The adequacy, accuracy and quality of signing and lining which either
restricts or permits parking

● The availability and pricing of on-street and off-street parking places

When formulating and appraising policies the Council consults locally with
individual stakeholders and businesses who have a range of parking needs.
The emergency services are also consulted to ensure their operations are not
being compromised.

The Council’s parking control policies are designed to;

● Improve traffic flows

● Improve road safety for both vehicle users and pedestrians

● Improve servicing arrangements by regulating the use of vehicles in the

busiest and most congested areas

● Improve pedestrian and cyclist accessibility

● Discourage commuter parking

● Increase capacity in car parks by encouraging appropriate “turnover” of

parking

● Encourage public transport use

● Regulate and control on and off street parking in the interest of the
economic, environmental and social well being of the city

● Contribute towards the vitality and viability of the city centre and other
local centres

Parking Restrictions

Parking restrictions, that are provided under the Road Traffic Regulation Act
1984, play an important role in helping to achieve the Council’s aims and
objectives. They are provided to assist and meet the competing demands of
businesses, car users, residents, pedestrians, people with disabilities, service
vehicles, public transport users, cyclists and motorcyclists.

There are many types of restriction that may be used to assist achieve these
aims, such as; waiting restrictions, loading restrictions, loading bays, bus stop
clearways, taxi ranks, pedestrian zones, pay and display parking, pay on foot
parking, clearways, time restricted parking bays, designated disabled parking
bays, resident parking schemes, bus lanes and designated motorcycle bays.

3
Most of these are introduced by Traffic Regulation Orders and are indicated to
motorists by road markings and signing that conforms with the requirements
of the Department for Transport’s publication “Traffic Signs Regulations and
General Directions”.

The need for new restrictions, or for an existing restriction to be removed or

amended, can be identified in many ways, for example by Council Officers,
Ward Members, local residents, interested stakeholders such as local
businesses or disabled groups, transport service operators or the emergency
services.

The merits of all proposals and their potential impact are considered and
prioritised to take into account factors including the local environment, the
classification and type of road and local accident statistics. Several hundred
requests for service of this nature are received every year.

If a decision to proceed to make a TRO is made, the proposal is initially

subject to consultation with various stakeholders and new or amended Traffic
Regulation Orders and plans are drawn up and advertised publicly. All
comments and objections received are given due consideration before a final
decision is made on whether to implement or remove a regulation.

Parking Charter

The Council has produced a parking charter entitled “Parking Matters” which
includes useful information for motorists about traffic signing and the
circumstances in which a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) may be issued. The
amount of observation time that civil enforcement officers give before a PCN
is issued is included and the charter also provides guidelines for appeals staff
to follow when representations are received from motorists who have received
a PCN. To ensure fairness and consistency all appeals are considered on
their individual merits. The Council’s Parking Charter can be viewed on line at:

http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/public/editable/themes/citycouncil/key-
docs/files/parking-charter-jan-2008.pdf

The Council’s approach to parking enforcement is to be fair but firm and the
parking charter outlines how we intend to deliver the best possible service to
motorists and the general public.

4
Car Parking Facilities

The Council currently manages nearly 4,000 parking spaces distributed

throughout the city and made up of the following;

Type Spaces

Chargeable
Multi Storey 2,109*
Off Street 495
On Street 91

Free 1,251

Total 3,946

*includes Central car park that was closed in December 2008 and is
programmed for demolition

Pay on Foot Car Parks

There are four car parks within the city centre that operate a pay on foot
system. These are the St Mary’s and Sunniside multi-storey car parks which
are Council operated car parks and the Bridges multi-storey car park and the
Bridges Roof Top car park which are privately owned.

The income (excluding VAT) during 2008/09, the parking tariffs and use
figures for the Council controlled pay on foot car parks are shown below;

St Mary’s Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
£1.10
8am – 6pm
50p
480 6pm – 8am
Sunday/Bank Holidays
50p per hour to max
£1.00
Lost Ticket £12

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £778,185 429,550 47%
2008/09 £786,731 443,581 48%

5
Sunniside Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
80p
8am – 6pm
40p
653 6pm – 8am
Sunday/Bank Holidays
40p per hour to max
£1.00
Lost Ticket £12

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy*

purchased
2007/08 £224,716 300,697 13%
2008/09 £214,068 332,052 13%

*excludes visitors to the Limelight development and permit holders

Multi-Storey Car Parks Operating Pay and Display

There are 2 other multi storey car parks in the City Centre, which operate a
pay and display method of parking. Please note that Central car park closed
in December 2008 due to structural decay and is now programmed for
demolition.

The income (excluding VAT) during 2008/09, the parking tariffs and use
figures for the pay and display multi storey car parks are shown below;

Civic Centre Car Park (excludes permit holders)

No of Spaces Tariff
585 70 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy*

purchased
2007/08 £296,477 169,502 21%
2008/09 £213,420 149,483 16%

Central Car Park (excludes permit holders) (closed from Dec 2008)

No of Spaces Tariff
391 60 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy*

purchased
2007/08 £109,265 87,524 15%
2008/09 £72,481 61,975 11%

6
Off Street Car Parks

The Council has 7 chargeable off street car parks located in the City Centre
which operate a pay and display system.

The income (excluding VAT) during 2008/09, the parking tariffs and use
figures for the off street pay and display car parks are shown below;

Boughton Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
56 80 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £71,893 55,768 52%
2008/09 £77,351 59,122 56%

Charles Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
28 50 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £15,526 11,348 36%
2008/09 £14,703 11,082 34%

Gorse Road Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
54 40 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £15,047 13,529 22%
2008/09 £16,611 14,832 25%

Nile Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
49 70 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £43,782 34278 41%
2008/09 £38,829 29,911 36%

7
Tatham Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
94 50 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £45,552 41,550 31%
2008/09 £38,669 37,609 26%

Tavistock Place Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
143 70 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £128,869 93,098 41%
2008/09 £150,236 104,395 48%

West Wear Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
40 50 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £33,393 26,991 53%
2008/09 £31,478 28,561 51%

In addition to the above public off street car parks there are also two city
centre off street car parks that are reserved specifically for permit holders only
and are located immediately behind Jacky Whites market.

Prince Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
19 £340 per quarter

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £25,905 19 100%
2008/09 £24,168 18 94%

8
South Street Car Park

No of Spaces Tariff
12 £340 per quarter

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy*

purchased
2007/08
£16,361 12 100%
2008/09 £14,875 11 91%

Chargeable On Street Car Parking

The Council has 71 chargeable on street parking bays located in the City
Centre which operate a pay and display system of parking.

The income (excluding VAT) during 2008/09, the tariffs and use figures for the
on street bays are shown below;

Foyle Street

No of Spaces Tariff
12 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £22,121 16,143 49%
2008/09 £19,634 14,057 44%

Frederick Street

No of Spaces Tariff
13 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £17,451 12,377 36%
2008/09 £25,990 19,606 54%

Norfolk Street

No of Spaces Tariff
7 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £10,433 7,341 40%
2008/09 £8,961 6,559 34%
9
West Sunniside

No of Spaces Tariff
13 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £23,247 17,086 48%
2008/09 £30,608 20,716 63%

St Thomas Street

No of Spaces Tariff
18 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £12,842 9,571 43%
2008/09 £15,696 11,076 53%

Bridge Street

No of Spaces Tariff
4 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £6,171 5,142 41%
2008/09 £6,376 5,332 43%

High Street West Street

No of Spaces Tariff
5 60 pence per 30
minutes or part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £10,178 8,111 54%
2008/09 £10,085 8,076 54%

10
Laura Street

No of Spaces Tariff
11 80 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £15,188 11,465 55%
2008/09 £15,771 11,591 58%

Villiers Street

No of Spaces Tariff
8 50 pence per hour or
part thereof

Year Income exc VAT Tickets Occupancy

purchased
2007/08 £5,931 5,113 47%
2008/09 £7,492 6,019 60%

Note: occupancy in relation to parking spaces is a measure of actual income

compared with the income achievable if all chargeable spaces were
constantly in use.

Review of Car Parking Fees

The level of all parking fees is regularly reviewed to encourage a “turnover” of

vehicles that contributes towards ensuring the viability and vitality of the city
centre. The last major review of parking charges was undertaken in August
2007 where the majority of parking charges were increased however during
2008/09 the level of parking fees remained unaltered.

Free Off Street Car Parks

The Council also manages 25 free car parks that are located throughout the
city

CENTRAL AREA
Car Park Name No of Spaces
Booth Street 15
Brookside Terrace 19
Commercial Road 64
Morgan Street 38
Ocean Road 21
Ocean Park 211
Silksworth Road 6
Wreath Quay Road 19
Marine Walk 60
Harbour View 129
Total 582

11
 HOUGHTON AREA
Car Park Name No of Spaces
Brinkburn Crescent 86
Fatherley Terrace 25
Eden Terrace 16
Station Road 90
Westbourne Terrace 30
Total 247

HETTON AREA
Car Park Name No of Spaces
Barnes Street 38
Barnes Street Church 8
Market Street 31
Railway Street 8
Park View 5
Elemore Lane 5
Total 95

WASHINGTON AREA
Car Park Name No of Spaces
Coach Road Estate 56
Manor Road 78
Speculation Place 151
Village Lane 42
Total 327

Enforcement

Enforcement of waiting and loading restrictions and parking places is

undertaken across the whole of the city. The area is patrolled through 10
enforcement beats or rotas as follows:

• 4 are deployed in the City Centre

• 1 in North Sunderland,
• 1 in West Sunderland,
• 1 in South Sunderland,
• 1 in Houghton, Hetton and Washington,
• 1 that sweeps around the outskirts of the city centre
• 1 mobile operator who deals with discrete issues such as school keep
clear markings and acts on any incident reports.

The Council operates Civil Parking Enforcement under Part 6 of the Traffic
Management Act 2004 (TMA). The Council’s in-house team enforce on street
restrictions whereas NSL Services enforce off street multi storey car parks.

12
NSL Service’s 7 year contract terminates on 2nd February 2010 when the
Council will take enforcement of off street multi storey car parks back
in-house.

At present on street enforcement activity is generally restricted to Monday to

Saturday between 8am – 6pm and Sunday enforcement at the seafront
between June – August between10am – 4pm. Evening enforcement in the
city centre has been undertaken in response to complaints from bus
operators. Enforcement took place on Friday and Saturday nights between 6
– 10pm on the run up to Christmas. The provision of evening enforcement will
continue to be the subject of review dependent upon the levels of traffic
congestion and complaints received.

CPE operates using two differential parking penalties (higher and lower
charges) depending on the seriousness of the contravention. For example,
parking in a place where it is always prohibited, such as on double yellow
lines, is considered to be more serious than overstaying where parking is
permitted, such as in a parking place. There are two band levels which local
authorities can apply either. Band 1 comprises of £70 (higher) and £50
(lower) charges. Band 2 comprises of £60 (higher) £40 (lower) charges.
During 2008/09 the Council operated mainly under band 2 but in March 2009
the Council adopted Band 1 charges.

In June 2009 local authorities were given powers to enforce contraventions

where vehicles are parked in excess of 50 cm from the edge of a carriageway
and also to enforce those vehicles observed parked across dropped
crossings. In due course it is intended that local authorities will also be given
the power to enforce certain moving offences such as contravention of bus
only lanes, one way street contraventions, no entry restrictions, prohibited
turns, yellow boxes, pedestrian zones and prohibition of certain vehicles. It is
anticipated that these powers will be made available during 2010 but in the
meantime the police will continue to be responsible for enforcement of these
offences.

The police remain responsible for endorsable offences such as dangerous

parking, obstruction, failure to comply with police “no parking” signs placed in
emergencies, and any vehicle where security or other traffic policing issues
are involved, including the need to close roads or set up diversions.

Frequency of Patrols

The city centre is where most congestion occurs and we aim to make three
visits to each location in the morning and the afternoon. Other areas such as
primary routes into the city and local shopping centres are visited twice during
a morning and afternoon with other areas on a lesser and “as and when”
basis. Car parks are patrolled at regular intervals throughout the day. A
mobile patrol is also employed to patrol locations such as school keep clear
markings and to attend to reports of inconsiderate parking.

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Staffing Levels

The Council Parking Services establishment consists of:

No of Staff Job Title

1 Parking Services Manager
1 Deputy Parking Services Manager
1 Parking Services Officer
1 Customer Liaison Officer
2 Senior Appeals Assistants
1 Monitoring Assistant
2 Appeals Assistants
2 Admin Assistants
3 Senior Civil Enforcement Officers
1 Radio Operator
15 Civil Enforcement Officers

Each Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) undergoes 5 days of induction training

and then “shadows” a more experienced staff member until they are
familiarised with their role and management is satisfied that an appropriate
level of competency is established. All patrolling staff have achieved the City
and Guilds Level 2 Certificate for Civil Enforcement Officers.

The Council encourages parking staff to be customer focussed and to act as

ambassadors for the city. A CEO may be the first person a visitor sees when
arriving in the city and the aim is to make a good first impression even in what
may be difficult circumstances. CEOs are trained to report anything unusual
or any situation that they believe may lead to potential criminal activity i.e. if a
vehicle is observed displaying valuables inside the vehicle the CEO will report
the registration number to the police who contacts DVLA to obtain the
registered keeper details. A letter is then sent from the police to the
registered keeper advising them of the reported incident and to lock expensive
articles in the boot out of sight.

CEO’s are suitably uniformed and are equipped with a mobile radio and
telephone that keeps them in constant contact with the control room that is
based in the Civic Centre. They have electronic handheld equipment that can
issue a PCN via a printer. They also have a camera to record photographic
evidence.

NSL Services provide off street enforcement on behalf of the Council and their
current establishment consists of:

No of Staff Job Title

1 Contract Manager
1 Cash Collection Supervisor
8 Car Park Supervisors
1 Cleansing Operatives
30 Civil Enforcement Officers (based in and patrolling off street car
parks)

14
Types of Contraventions

There are over 70 contraventions that could be enforced depending on what

is contained within relevant traffic regulation orders. These range from
enforcing yellow lines on the streets to vehicles being parked outside bay
markings in a car park.

Most Common Contraventions

The most common contravention is code 01 for being parking on a restricted

street during prescribed hours i.e. parking on a yellow line. Approximately
42% of PCN’s are issued for this contravention. Other most repeated types of
contravention are also shown below;

Contravention Contravention Description % of Overall PCN Issue

Code
01 Parked in a restricted street during 42%
prescribed hours
parked in a car park without clearly
83 displaying a valid pay and display 11%
ticket or voucher or parking clock
parked or loading/unloading in a
02 restricted street where waiting and
loading/unloading restrictions are in 10%
force
82 parked after the expiry of paid for
time 8%

25 parked in a loading place during

restricted hours 7%

Operational and Financial Statistics

Operating Costs

The car parking trading account for 2008/2009 is as follows:

On Street Off Street

£ £
Income

Pay and Display -140,613 -1,662,355

Off Street PCN’s -57,327
On Street PCN’s -229,309
Permits -154,146

Direct Costs

Employees 573,389 1,096,514

15
Premises 17,743 635,488
Transport 3,432
Supplies and Services 130,527 108,874

(Surplus)/Deficit 355,169 32,952

In addition, indirect costs are incurred as follows;

Support Service Charges £258,336

Capital Charges (notional) £204,955
Capital Charges (other) £113,351

Penalty Charge Notices

A Penalty Charge Notice may be issued for any vehicle parked in

contravention of the parking and waiting restrictions. As mentioned earlier the
TMA 2004 introduced differential sums of £60 and £40 with effect from the
31st March 2008 and the 50% discount amount is applied to both charge
amounts. However, in March 2009 the Council adopted penalty charge levels
of £70 and £50 respectively, again the 50% discount amount is applied to
both charges within the 14 day discount period.

During the period 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2009 the City Council issued
11,856 Penalty Charge Notices and from that number 1632 notices were
cancelled as a result of an appeal

The Income generated from PCN’s for the same period was £286,636.

Observation Periods

Civil Enforcement Officers are given guidance on what the minimum length of
observation time that vehicles must be given before a PCN can be issued.
The electronic handset is set up such that the minimum period of time must
elapse before it will issue a PCN. The observation periods are included in the
Council’s Parking Charter.

Mitigating Circumstances

Staff who deal with the appeals have a framework that provides guidance on
how to deal with the various contraventions to ensure fairness and
consistency and all appeals are considered on their own merits. A list of
general mitigating circumstances is included in the Council’s Parking Charter.

PCN’s Issued per Area

A breakdown of the PCN issue in each area is as follows;

Area No Of PCN’s Issued % Of Total PCN’s

Issued
City Centre 7595 64%

16
South Sunderland 2107 18%
North Sunderland 976 8%
West Sunderland 748 6.3%
Houghton and Hetton 371 3.2%
Washington 59 0.5%

The 10 locations in the city where most PCN’s have been issued are;

1. Tavistock Place Car Park

2. Frederick Street
3. Boughton Street Car Park
4. West Street
5. West Sunniside
6. High Street West
7. Station Street
8. St Thomas Street
9. John Street
10. Derwent Street

Payments of PCN’S

8,653 (73%) payments were received which is a 4% increase on the figure for
2007/08;

% Paid Status
1907 Paid at £20
50 Paid at £25
5011 Paid at £30
117 Paid at £35
351 Paid at £40
7 Paid at £50
873 Paid at £60
1 Paid at £65
0 Paid at £70
0 Paid at £75
218 Paid at £90
92 Paid at £95
0 Paid at £105
0 Paid at £110
26 Paid other amount

Method of Payment

8,653 PCN’s were paid using the following methods:

% Paid Method Of Payment

58% Debit/Credit Card Payment
26% Cheque Payment
14% Cash Payment
2% Postal Order/Other Payment

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Correspondence

In 2008/09, 19,727 items of incoming and outgoing items of correspondence

were dealt with.

No of Items Sent Type Of Correspondence

2034 Informal Representations
2034 Responses to Informal Representations
3525 Notice To Owners
306 Formal Representations
217 Notice of Rejections
89 Notice of Acceptance
89 Representations to NPAS
2040 Charge Certificates
2031 Statutory Declarations
30 Warrants
7332 Non-Statutory Correspondence

Appeals Process

If after a period of 28 days the amount owed remains outstanding the Council
obtains the registered keeper’s details from the DVLA at Swansea and sends
out a “Notice to Owner” (NtO) to the registered keeper. Regardless of who
was driving at the time it is the registered keeper who is responsible. The
notice requests the registered keeper to either pay the outstanding amount or
challenge the issue of the PCN. At this stage the opportunity to pay the
discounted sum is no longer available.

If the Council and the registered keeper cannot agree then an appeal can be
made by the appellant to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) which is an
adjudication service made up of qualified solicitors with a minimum 5 years
experience in road traffic law. They are independent of the Council and arrive
at decisions based on evidence placed before them. Appeals can be made in
person at a tribunal, by post or via a telephone hearing using conferencing
equipment.

Cancellations

Cancellations Due to Appeal

All appeals must be made in writing detailing their mitigating circumstances.

Because the Council adopt a firm but fair approach, appeals are considered
on their own merits and inevitably there are a number of cancellations for
various reasons. It is important that the decisions which are made are
consistent, supported by firm evidence, not only to assist the notice
processing staff to arrive at the correct decision but also to confirm to the
Council’s auditor that we are operating a fair, proportionate and consistent
regime.

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The most frequent reasons for cancellations and writing off are as follows:

Reason for Cancellation No. Cancelled %

of Total Tickets
Issued
Valid Ticket Produced 650 5.5%
Mitigating Circumstances 523 4.4%
Blue Badge Holder 360 3%

PCN’s Written Off

Reason for Writing Off Number of PCN’s %

Written Off of
Total Tickets
Issued
Processing Error/Spoilt 305 2.6%
Driver Untraceable 84 0.7%
Machine Fault 31 0.3%
Foreign Vehicle 67 0.6%
Bankruptcy 1 0.01%

Recovery of Debts

If the registered keeper fails to pay the outstanding charge it will ultimately be
referred to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court and
the outstanding charge is registered as a debt to the Council and thereafter
bailiffs may be employed to recover the debt. In 2008/09 30 warrants were
issued from the 11,856 tickets issued. The current status of these warrants is
as follows;

% Current State as at September 2008

16% Pending
10% Paid
40% No Trace
34% Cancelled unable to levy(additional evidence provided
not previously submitted)

The Joint Report of the Parking Adjudicators for England and Wales
2008/2009 – Statistical Information

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal’s (TPT) most recent published report quotes
figures for the periods April 2008 to March 2009. The report provides
statistical information on every authority outside of London that has adopted
Civil Parking Enforcement. During the period April 2008 to March 2009 TPT
dealt with 12,424 appeals.

Currently there are 238 authorities outside of London operating CPE.

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Sunderland’s Statistics;
Out of 11,856 PCNs issued 89 resulted in representations being made to the
Traffic Penalty Tribunal. When considering Sunderland’s position in the tables
it should be borne in mind that some authorities dealt with a relatively low
number of appeals therefore the statistics can be misleading. Some
authorities received low numbers of appeals because not all of their
administrative area is subject to enforcement or enforcement was introduced
part way through the year. The figures shown in Table 1 do not include those
authorities that have recently introduced Civil Parking Enforcement and have
yet to have any appeals decided by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

Table 1
Position In
All Sunder- Quartile Position Table Of
Councils land’s In Table Authorities In
Perform Excess Of 50
ance Appeals
Appeals Received 12,424
PCN’S Issued 4,000,221
Rate of Appeal
per PCN 0.31% 0.75% 4th Quartile 203rd 65th

Not contested by
Council 4,170 17 2nd Quartile 62nd 14th
(34%) (19%)
Allowed by
Adjudicator 3,572 11 1st Quartile 21st 1st
(29%) (12%)
Total allowed
including not 7,742 28 1st Quartile 10th 1st
contested by (62%) (31%)
Council
Refused by
Adjudicator 4,325 41 (46%) 1st Quartile 50th 9th
Including Out Of (35%)
Time and
Withdrawn by
Appellant
Awaiting decision
including other 357 20 (22%)
decided (3%)

Sunderland’s rate of appeals per penalty charge notice is high but is mainly
due to the actions of a parking campaigner who resides in Sunderland and
has set up a business defending parking appeals. Importantly only 12% of
appeals were allowed by the Adjudicator (i.e. won by the appellant),
reaffirming the Council’s original decision not to waive the penalty charge
notice. This is the lowest percentage of appeals allowed of any authority
throughout the country that have dealt with in excess of 50 appeals and is an
excellent achievement. Since the objective of the Councils parking
management regime must be compliance with the regulations, then this would

20
appear to be a clear indication of the success of the Council’s parking
management regime.

For comparison purposes, table 2 below are statistics taken from the report
relating to other northeast authorities that were operating DPE during
2008/2009.

Table 2

Authority Number Allowed by Total Allowed Refused by

of Cases Adjudicator Including Not Adjudicator
Contested by Including Out of
Council Time and
Withdrawn by
Appellant
All Councils 12,424 3,572 (29%) 7,742 (62%) 4,325 (35%)
Gateshead 26 8 (31%) 22 (85%) 4(15%)
Hartlepool 24 11 (46%) 17 (71%) 7 (29%)
Middlesbrough 31 4 (13%) 9 (29%) 21 (68%)
Redcar and 27 5 (19%) 11 (41%) 13 (48%)
Cleveland
South Tyneside 40 17 (43%) 23 (58%) 17 (43%)
Stockton 11 4 (36%) 6 (55%) 5 (45%)
Sunderland 89 11 (12%) 28 (31%) 41 (46%)

The figures indicate that the Council’s parking management team provide
robust, high quality representations to TPT, including comprehensive
evidence, which has resulted in most appeals being refused.

The Council is placed in the top quartile (the best performing 25%) for certain
key indicators which clearly demonstrates that the Council is among the top
performers.

The Parking Adjudicators for England and Wales recommends an Authority

publishes in its Annual Report information relating to10 specific statistics.
These are attached as annexe 1 to this report.

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 ANNEXE 1

Statistical Information for Year 2007-08 and 2008-09

Item 2007/08 2008/09

Penalty Charge Notices issued 10,708 11,856
Paid at discounted sum 6,109 7,085
Notice to Owners issued 3665 3525
Formal Representations received 333 306
Representations accepted 43 89
Representations rejected 290 217
Number of Appeals lodged 110 89
Outcome of Appeals
Not contested by Council 15 (14%) 17(19%)
Allowed by Adjudicator 14 (13%) 11(12%)
Total Allowed including not Contested 29 (26%) 28(31%)
Refused by Adjudicator including out of
time and withdrawn by Appellant 74 (67%) 41(46%)

Charge Certificates issued 3035 2040

Charge Certificates Paid 224 218
Cases to County Court 42 30

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