Lambeth council is planning to pay contractors more than £50m over eight years to enforce parking, traffic and other regulations in the borough.
The full cost will be met from the approximate £55m the council receives each year from the issue of penalty charge notices.
After considering tenders from the existing provider, Airport Parking Company of America (APCOA), and Marston Holdings’ NSL, the council has decided to continue with APCOA.
Council functions covered by the contract include:
- CCTV enforcement of bus lanes and moving traffic offences
- Penalty charge notices for parking contraventions
- Removal of vehicles causing dangerous or serious obstruction of the highway
- On-street parking suspensions
- Removal of abandoned vehicles from streets and housing estates
- Environmental enforcement (littering etc.)
- Project management support services which can be called on to manage improvement projects
- Other types of highways enforcement.
The council plans to approve the contract with APCOA for an initial period of four years at an estimated cost of £24,618,151, with the option to extend the contract for two further periods of two years, giving a total value over eight years of £50,982,050. The initial four-year contract will run from 14 November this year to 13 November 2028.
APCOA was awarded its current contract to carry out civil enforcement in the borough in 2016 .
The council has a statutory duty to enforce parking regulations.
Revenue from penalty charge notices that is not needed to pay APCOA is used for other transport-related services including highways and accessible transport and climate or environmental initiatives, the council says.
A report relating to the award of the contract discusses, among other things, its implications for the environment and health.
A “robust parking enforcement policy” deters unnecessary vehicle use and will enable the council to enforce any new restrictions regarding emission-based parking policies to improve air quality in the borough, it said.
“APCOA have been and will be issuing PCNs to vehicles on street that are idling at the kerbside, thus helping to reduce the emission of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter,” the report said.
“Environmental enforcement targets a range of environmental crime which can lead to health and safety issues for communities, such as littering, fly tipping and dog fouling.
“The threat of enforcement is a key deterrent and through targeted enforcement we can greatly reduce the impact of environmental crime throughout the borough.”
APCOA employs 44 Lambeth residents on the existing contract, which, the council, says is London Living Wage compliant.
