There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Derbyshire said that he held a permit for the Cassiobury Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ).

To submit for signature the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2012.

All minutes are available on the Council’s website.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2012 were submitted and signed.

The Panel is asked to review the outstanding actions and questions from previous meetings.

The Panel received an update on actions from previous meetings.

The Chair noted that PR1, indicators to be added to the performance report, had been included in the next item.

The Panel noted that no remedy notices had been issued under the contract with SLM.  Work was being undertaken under all the actions.

RESOLVED –

That the report be noted.

Report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head

The Panel received a report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head giving details of performance information collected and appending the performance indicators for the third quarter of 2012/13. 

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head advised that as this was a new scrutiny panel, the performance report was evolving as Members decided which indicators would be most useful to monitor.

She drew the Panel’s attention to the new indicators for this report. For HQ Theatres, the number of community hires was reported. For the parking service, the number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued and the number of appeals was included in the report.

The Chair underlined the importance of considering whether there were other indicators that Members wanted to be reported.

RESOLVED –

that the performance of the identified outsourced service indicators at the end of quarter 3 2012/13 be noted.

The Panel will receive a presentation from officers providing an overview of the contract, monitoring arrangements and the financial position. 

The Annual Parking Report and the Cancellation Guidance Policy are attached to the agenda.

The Panel received a presentation on the contract with Vinci.

Councillor Derbyshire asked for details of the carparks that the Council controlled. The Parking Services Manager replied that these were the Avenue Car Park, the Town Hall Car Park, Longspring Car Park and the Harebreaks Car Park. He added that the Council also undertook enforcement in the leisure centre car parks.

The Parking Services Manager explained the structure of the contract costs and advised that the contract with Vinci was a quality-based, rather than punitive-based, contract. In the latter, it could be worthwhile for contractors not to meet their contractual obligations and pay a small fine. The Council’s contract with Vinci was fixed-cost and the only way the costs could go up would be if the Council extended the contract by asking for more hours or a wider coverage.

In response to a question about risk-sharing, the Parking Services Manager explained that if the contractor did not meet the performance targets they were not paid.

Councillor Derbyshire noted that Vinci reported on their performance monthly and this was the basis of the payments. He asked how this data was audited. The Parking Services Manager explained that the data was not audited by a third party but he audited the data through tracking records. He had access to the system and could access the same reports and he checked the accuracy for every report. He was satisfied that the systems in place were adequate.

The Parking Services Manager explained the performance system and advised that Vinci were currently operating at two ‘bits’. It was extremely difficult to attain six bits, the highest level of performance. He noted that in January the Council had had 500 additional hours of enforcement at no additional cost. However, this did not lead to additional payments as the level of errors was too high. The performance was good but the key performance indicators had not been achieved.

The Parking Services Manager outlined the contract costs and noted that Watford needed match day signage. Once Saracens left Vicarage Road, less enforcement would be needed there.

The Parking Services Manager noted that Watford managed the contract on behalf of Three Rivers and Dacorum. This gave consistency and allowed the councils to pool resources as required. Three Rivers and Dacorum contributed to the salary costs for the Watford staff who managed the contract.

Following a question from Councillor Counter, the Parking Services Manger referred to the Annual Parking Report which listed the level of the fine for each offence. The Chair added that these levels were set in legislation and the Council had no control over the levels. The Parking Services Manager reminded the Panel that the Traffic Management Act governed everything the service did.

The Parking Services Manager said that the objective of the PCNs was to encourage compliance rather than to raise revenue.  He reported that the number of PCNs was falling and this was what happened as compliance increased. Although there was a concern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The Panel to consider the information they have received about the parking service and draw any conclusions and make recommendations.

The Chair outlined the conclusions and actions from the meeting –

·               the Panel to receive a comparison of write-offs for other councils in the local authority family

·               the Panel to receive a zone-by-zone breakdown of income from permits

·               the Panel to receive the report of the Safer Routes to Schools Task Group set up by HCC.

The Chair added that he recalled that the HCC Task Group had had a list of participating schools in the Safer Routes to Schools scheme. Ward councillors may be able to encourage non-participating schools to sign up.

RESOLVED –

that the actions and conclusions from the meeting be agreed.

ACTION: Transport and Infrastructure Section Head, Parking Services Manager and Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer

Each year a report is produced of the scrutiny work undertaken by councillors and the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel will contribute to the report.

The Panel is asked to consider what they wish to highlight in the report.

The Chair asked the Panel to consider and circulate any contributions for the report.