Hammersmith & Fulham Annual Parking Report 2020/21

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Contents

Glossary

Introduction and background

Parking in Hammersmith & Fulham

Looking Ahead

Statistics, Financial Information, Reviews and Monitoring

Glossary

This glossary explains common acronyms and definitions of technical terms used through the document.

Annual Report
This is the abbreviated name for this document, the Annual Parking and Enforcement Report.

CC
Charge certificate.

CEO
Civil Enforcement Officer. Following the enactment of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on 31 March 2008 with respect to civil parking enforcement, 'Parking Attendants' are now referred to as CEOs.

CPZ
Controlled Parking Zone. All public highways in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham are covered by a CPZ.

Contravention
This refers to a breach of parking regulations. This was formerly referred to as an 'offence' when regulations were enforced by the police.

Enforcement
In this document 'enforcement' activity by the council covers that of parking controls.

KPI
Key performance indicator.

London Councils
This body represents the interests of the 33 London Local Authorities in London. London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, which is made up of nominated representatives from each London local authority, carries out statutory functions, such as setting the level of Penalty Charge Level for parking contraventions in London. It is responsible for the parking adjudication service and administration of the London Lorry Control Scheme.

London Tribunals
The parking and traffic appeals service (formerly PATAS)

NTO
Notice to owner.

PCN
Penalty charge notice.

Recovery rate
The percentage of PCNs issued that have been paid. Non-payment of PCNs may be due to those receiving the PCN or as a consequence of the council not being able to obtain the keeper details from the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).

RingGo
Pay and Park facility used in Hammersmith and Fulham

TEC
London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee

TfL
Transport for London, one of the bodies the GLA and the Mayor of London is responsible for.

TMA
Traffic Management Act 2004

TMO
Traffic Management Order. TMO is used as a generic term in this report to cover any traffic management or traffic regulation orders that are used to designate parking and traffic controls.

TMO
Traffic Management Order. TMO is used as a generic term in this report to cover any traffic management or traffic regulation orders that are used to designate parking and traffic controls.

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Introduction and background

This is the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham's Annual Parking and Enforcement Report for 2020/21.

This report will focus on three key areas:

  • Parking in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
  • A Look Ahead
  • Statistics, Financial Information, Reviews and Monitoring

The legislative framework for Local Authorities to carry out parking enforcement changed on 31 March 2008 when Part Six of the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA), replaced parts of the Road Traffic Act 1991. The Department for Transport (DfT) introduced the TMA to improve public perceptions of parking enforcement by providing greater consistency of nationwide parking regulations and providing a fairer and more transparent system.

The TMA required a number of changes to parking enforcement practice, which covered the terminology and documentation used, and the processing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). It also placed additional responsibilities on authorities to publish information regarding parking enforcement, including an annual report.

More information on parking in the Hammersmith and Fulham is available on our website at: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/parking 

This document focuses on parking and enforcement issues and the new schemes and processes that we believe will offer a better service to our customers.

The council is committed to being open and transparent about its parking operation, with the mind set of keeping the local community and other interested parties abreast of any changes we have made and any we are considering for the future.

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Parking in Hammersmith & Fulham

Overview

All roads controlled by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham are part of a Controlled Parking Zone (with a few exceptions of private roads) and all kerbside space is therefore dedicated as a parking space or has a yellow line waiting restriction.

Parking schemes must accommodate the needs and expectations of different groups and parking bay restrictions are designed to manage demand and ensure that everyone may benefit from available space, at the times it is most needed.

Parking schemes need correct signage and road markings to be enforceable. The council is responsible for maintenance of existing signs and lines, both within and outside the controlled parking zone, as well as the installation of signs and lines for new parking schemes.

Other associated costs include maintaining over 370 pay-and-display machines in some of our busier areas of the borough.

Parking measures have an impact on the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Inconsiderate parking can obstruct sight lines, keeping dangerous hazards out of view. It may also result in reduced access on pavements and at crossing points. Bad parking can also block bus routes, causing delays for passengers. Service unreliability may, in turn, lead to more private vehicles on the road.

Parking schemes need correct signage and road markings to be enforceable

On-street parking bays are reserved for use by certain users. We have the following types and numbers of bays in the borough:

  • 1 Hour Parking Bay - 590
  • 1 Hour Pay and Display Only Parking Bay - 1
  • 2 Hour Parking Bay - 1407
  • 30 Minute Parking Bay - 10
  • 4 Hour Parking Bay - 911
  • Ambulance Parking Bay - 4
  • Beyond Borough Extent - 41
  • Car Club Bay - 41
  • Combined Loading Bay and Standard Parking Bay - 3
  • Cycle Hangar Bay - 13
  • Cycle Hire Bay - 135
  • Diplomatic Parking Bay - 6
  • Disabled Parking Bay - 362
  • Disabled Personalised Parking Bay - 60
  • Doctors Bay - 33
  • Electric Parking Bay - 133
  • Loading Bay - 126
  • Market Bay - 34
  • Motorcycle Parking Bay - 43
  • Pay and Display Only Parking Bay - 59
  • Permit Only Parking Bay - 105
  • Police Parking Bay - 2
  • Standard Parking Bay - 39804
  • Taxi Night Parking Bays - 11
  • Taxi Parking Bays - 20

You can find information concerning parking and examples of road markings and signage in the Highway Code and in the Department for Transport's Know Your Traffic Signs booklet and in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016.

These publications and other useful information related to parking can be found on the Department for Transport's website www.dft.gov.uk

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Parking objectives and strategies

Our commitment to our residents, businesses and visitors is to make it safe, easy and fair to park in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. We will seek to make it as easy as possible for those who need to park in the borough, to find and pay for their parking space.

We will continue to be open and transparent about how much income is generated from the parking service, where we invest the surplus, and how much on-street parking services cost. We will seek to limit fraud and take appropriate action against those who use disabled badges or residents parking permits fraudulently.

In 2019, H&F Council declared a climate and ecological emergency and set an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 in Hammersmith and Fulham. We are committed to the reduction of air pollution in the borough and will work with other council departments and our residents to ensure this goal is met.

We will continue to support our key workers who provide essential services in the borough, by providing key work permits.

We have doubled the number of shopper parking spaces near our busy shopping areas, markets and businesses to make it easier for residents to shop locally, at a significant reduced chargeable rate.

We will continue to support our key workers who provide essential services in the borough

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COVID-19 Response

Coronavirus (Covid-19) significantly changed the way people used roads and public spaces in Hammersmith and Fulham.

As people tried to avoid public transport, demand for parking increased and the reintroduction of charges and enforcement became increasingly necessary to ensure priority could be maintained for those who needed it most.

In 2021, with lockdown measures reduced and increasing numbers of people driving into the borough, the council took the decision to go back to normal parking enforcement to effectively manage the high demand for kerb space in the borough.

Like many authorities, we followed the advice of the British Parking Association, the Local Government Association and the Department for Transport to ensure our parking and transport strategy was fit to tackle to demands created by the pandemic. Some of our service models changed because of the pandemic, with virtual resident and business permits replacing physical permits placed on the windscreen.

In addition, we continue to provide special key worker permits, to allow key workers providing essential services in the borough to park at much reduced rates.

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South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood project

The South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood project (previously known as the Traffic, Congestion and Pollution Reduction scheme) was launched in July 2020 and made permanent in December 2021. Since the project began, traffic has reduced by 75% in the streets to the east of Wandsworth Bridge Road (WBR) and by 12% on Wandsworth Bridge Road.

Overall traffic in South Fulham is down by 23%; the project has reduced the number of trips by motorists by 8,000 per day through the area. It has contributed to the removal of at least one tonne of CO2 per day and a reduction of 60% in NOx pollution from South Fulham.

The council has now approved an experimental traffic order to extend the project to the streets to the west of WBR, following further resident engagement and consultation.

The Clean Air Neighbourhood project has enabled residents to take control of local streets which had become flooded with traffic - 90% of which was made up of rat- running, out-of-borough motorists largely from Surrey, Hampshire and the A3 corridor.

The decades-old and seemingly unmanageable traffic problem in South Fulham has been made worse in recent years by increased use of satnav systems directing arterial road traffic to cut through narrow residential streets.

The project, which was developed by the council working with residents, uses the latest Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology to end this problem. It allows H&F residents whose vehicles are registered to and H&F address, as well as visitors and trades people with day permits, to access all areas freely.

Streets in the area remain freely open to all residents of H&F. Black taxis, local minicabs, home carers and emergency vehicles are also exempt and can enter and exit through the cameras without penalty.

Since the scheme began:

  • 75% reduction in traffic on the streets to the east of Wandsworth Bridge Road
  • 12% reduction in traffic on Wandsworth Bridge Road
  • 23% reduction in traffic in South Fulham
  • 8,000 less trips per day by motorists through the area

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Reducing pollution and improving the air quality

Fifty-six air quality monitors (AGMs) were installed on lamp columns across South Fulham. These form the largest concentrated network of AQMs anywhere in Europe. The live information from these AQMs will be made publicly available.

H&F engineers use data from traffic counters and the AQMs to highlight trouble-spots and benchmark the success of the Clean Air Neighbourhood project, including the key aim of reducing air pollution.

The data shows it has so far contributed to the removal of at least one tonne of CO2 per day from the area. The air quality has improved significantly since the start of the project and has seen NOx pollution fall by 60% to levels below the new World Health Organisation threshold of 20 ugm3.

The data shows it has so far contributed to the removal of at least one tonne of CO2 per day from the area

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Resident parking

Eligibility for a parking permit is based on the resident's ability to clearly demonstrate their ongoing full time/main residency in Hammersmith and Fulham, their entitlement to a full driving license and the keepership / main use of the vehicle at their address in the borough. Our commitment to our residents, businesses and visitors is to make it safe, easy and fair to park in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. We will seek to make it as easy as possible for those who need to park in the borough, to find and pay for their parking space.

Each member of a household is entitled to apply for a maximum of 2 permits – a resident first permit for their first vehicle and a resident second permit at the higher price for their second vehicle. Permits can be issued for a period of 6 or 12 months.

Temporary 30-day parking permits are available for new residents and first-time applicants who can apply using reduced proofs and then upgrade the permit to a full annual version at no further charge when any outstanding documents are submitted. This permit incurs a non-refundable deposit equivalent to a 12 month permit to deter fraud.

Each member of a household is entitled to apply for a maximum of 2 permits

Green vehicle discount is available for residents who use a vehicle that emits 100 g/ km or less of CO2. Free permits are available for residents who use a fully electric vehicle. The discounted price or free permit is only available for the first permit.

The pricing structure for our permits (2020/21)
Permit Type Duration First Permit Second Permit
Standard 6 months £71 £260
Standard 12 months £119 £497
Temporary 30 days £119 N/A
Green Vehicle 12 months £60 N/A
Fully Electric Vehicle 12 months £0 N/A

The number of residents permits issued has remained steady throughout the year:

  • Access Permit (TCPR Scheme) - 965
  • Business 1st - 816
  • Business 2nd - 217
  • Resident 1st - 36680
  • Resident 2nd - 663
  • Resident Housing Estate 1st - 2209
  • Resident Housing Estate 2nd - 28
  • Total - 41578

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Resident permit appeals

We operate a one stage appeals process for applicants who have been refused a parking permit, except for non-residents and permit free planning agreements.

Applicants can appeal in writing and a decision is made within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. There is no further right of appeal once a decision has been made.

  • Total number of appeals in 2020/21 = 23 (number upheld = 22, number rejected = 1)

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Virtual permits and digital service

The service now operates remotely with the vast majority of customer transactions taking place online, over the phone or by email.

A postal service is in place as an alternative option for residents and businesses who prefer a non-digitised option. The face-to- face facility was closed in March 2020 in response to the Government's implementation of National lockdown measures to control the spread of Coronavirus.

Parking permits is moving towards a more digitised environment, including officer assisted service to ensure continued accessibility. Paper permits were replaced by virtual permits when the face-to-face service closed in March 2020. Virtual permits have been welcomed by most residents. This is because applications or changes processed result in real time updates and there is no longer any need to wait for a permit to arrive or to be returned.

We have introduced online forms to allow residents to replace and refund their permits more easily. We are working on a programme of improvements to expand our online options. We have also reviewed and updated the web information to make the service much easier to navigate.

We have introduced online forms to allow residents to replace and refund their permits more easily

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Car Clubs

We are enthusiastic supporters of Car Clubs and believe that they offer great potential to reduce both traffic congestion and on- street parking stress.

We're aiming to ensure that every resident and business has a Car Club bay within easy access. You can find car club cars parked on-street in their own designated bays. Car Clubs are an alternative to car ownership that gives members of the club access to vehicles when needed.

They have been described as a pay-as-you- go form of car ownership, whereby you pay only when you are using the car. Car clubs provide you with the convenience of a car, without the cost of privately owning one.

Using a Car Club means you to not have to worry about tax, insurance, parking permits, servicing or repairs. There are none of the hassles of owning and maintaining a car.

Residents and businesses can become a member of a Car Club in the borough for as little as £59.50 a year and some cars starting from £5 per hour, with the first 40 miles of petrol free per day. Tax, insurance, parking permits, servicing and repairs are all included. Some car clubs include the congestion charge in the price; others will bill you for it.

The cars are available 24 hours a day for use by the hour, day, week or month.

We currently have 47 on-street car club locations, managed by two operators (Zipcar and Enterprise) which provide two types of Car Club usage - round-trip (or station- based) and one-way (or flexible):

  • Round-trip (or station based) Car Clubs means you will need to return the vehicle used to its original parking bay when you've finished using it.
  • One-way (or flexible) Car Clubs means that you can pick-up and drop-off the car anywhere. You can pick up one-way vehicles from any parking bay and drop them off in any bay around the borough.

You don't need to make a reservation. This 'free-floating' car club model is our latest initiative to make using car club vehicles as easy as possible. The free-floating car club is open to members across several London boroughs who also host the service which provides greater flexibility and a wider area for non-round trip journeys.

We are also working with operators to move away from diesel vehicles. All of our operators are actively looking to make their fleets fully electric or hybrid. To support future development of a fully-electric Car Club fleet in the borough, we are working directly with Enterprise and Liberty Charge to introduce 'Car Club Mobility Hubs' and convert all existing car club vehicles to electric. We are exploring relocation of existing Enterprise Car Club bays to sit within 200m of a Liberty Charge EV charge point. This will ensure all Enterprise Car Club bays can be converted to an electric car, providing more cleaner, greener and smarter travel opportunities for residents and businesses in the borough.

We will continue to support our key workers who provide essential services in the borough

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Cycle parking

The demand for secure on street cycle parking has seen a huge increase in demand since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government advice to residents to use alternative options to the car and public transport, caused many residents to return to and start cycling in the borough, which has led to a greater demand for secure cycle parking on our streets.

The gradual easing of restrictions has continued to boost the demand for secure on-street storage and funding has now been allocated to install an initial 63 more Bikehanger units, meaning another 378 secure spaces. Additional funding will also mean that another 300 units will be installed (1800 spaces) over the next six months.

We will also install another 200 Sheffield cycle stands across the borough, including along the new Safer Cycle Pathway along King Street. In March 2022 the secure parking unit at the Flyover of the A4 will open with 100 spaces.

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Motorcycle parking

The council provides designated on-street solo motorcycle only bays within the borough in locations where there is high demand, such as commercial town centres and an identified higher proportion of recorded motorcycle thefts.

The council also allows free parking for motorcycles in all its shared-use and pay and display parking bays (the significant majority of parking bays in LBHF) in recognition of the fact they use less space and cause less congestion than cars. However, motorcycles cannot be parked in specific bay types such as disabled or doctors bays, and also suspended parking bays or on the pavement.

In 2021, the council has implemented a motorcycle permit trial in the Caxton Village area. The changes include, charging for all motorcycle parking in the residential streets, a new free motorcycle parking bay on Uxbridge Road and a new resident's permit for motorcycles.

Concerns had been raised by some residents of Caxton Village about excessive anti-social motorcycle parking activity. Some areas of the roads were also reportedly being used as a free motorcycle fleet storage facility for food delivery outlets and numerous reports of anti-social behaviour have been linked to independent motorcycle food delivery companies.

A recent traffic survey carried out in the area also showed a significant number of motorcycle movements in the Caxton Village which has had a detrimental impact on residents' lives by reducing parking capacity and increasing environmental concerns around noise and pollution.

In addition, free motorcycle bays were introduced on Wood Lane and Uxbridge Road, to ensure motorcycles displaced from residential streets were able to park and pick up deliveries.

Resident feedback on the trial has been positive and we will continue to monitor survey data from the trial to make a permanent decision.

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Electric vehicles

The council has installed over 1,000 charge points across the borough, this includes a mix of 5 kWh Lamp column charge points, 7 or 22 kWh 'fast' destination chargepoints and 50 kWh Rapid Chargepoints. This network continues to grow.

The council appreciate that demand for charge points is growing amongst our residents and so are now prioritising providing convenient EV charge points for residents, exploring opportunities with several different stakeholders to provide residents who do not have access to private off-street parking the opportunity to charge close to home.

To date we have installed over 700 lamp column charge points in residential streets and have secured funding to deliver an additional 2,000 lamp column chargepoints across residential streets in the borough through 2022/23. We continue to review these locations for improvement and, where appropriate providing dedicated electric vehicle spaces adjacent to the lamp column charge point, to prevent spaces being occupied by non-EV, thereby maximizing resident's chances of being able to access the charge points.

All on-street charge points are open to use (through a third-party subscription) to all residents (subject to parking zone restrictions) and visitors. The substantial spread we have across the borough means that in many instances' residents are not far from their nearest charge point.

To support future development of our charge point network LBHF continue to explore all funding streams available, including Innovate UK funded projects. The council is also actively working with a number of key stakeholders and potential partners to develop and improve the charging options available in LBHF.

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Parking enforcement

The LBHF Parking Enforcement Team continues to be one of the few remaining in-house parking enforcement teams in Britain. We contract our own Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) to enforce parking restrictions across the borough.

We expect our CEOs to act in a consistent and professional manner and to treat all motorists equally, without showing favour, bias or prejudice. When finding a vehicle is parked in contravention of a parking restriction, it is the duty of a CEO to issue a PCN to that vehicle and they have no powers to subsequently cancel or withdraw those notices.

In addition to parking enforcement, CEOs can provide advice and guidance to the public, inform the police of suspected criminal activity and report suspected abandoned vehicles, faults with parking equipment and missing/faded road markings and missing/damaged signs. They act as the our 'eyes and ears' on the street and their high profile, uniformed patrols can help to deter antisocial behaviour.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is taking a wide range of actions to tackle air pollution through the enforcement of Idling vehicles.

At present, Our Civil Enforcement Officers engage with the driver, requesting that the driver switch off their engine and this has proven to be effective.

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Moving traffic and bus lane enforcement

Since 1999 The London Borough for Hammersmith & Fulham has been using "Manned" Attended CCTV cameras to enforce Bus lane Enforcement regulations (BLE), using the powers granted by the London Local Authorities Act 1996 (LLA96). In 2003, LLA 2000 Parking Enforcement Regulations (PE), updated later by the Traffic Management Act 2004, also started to be enforced via Attended CCTV, although a Ban was introduced by coalition Government in 2015 leaving only 3 useable contraventions types for parking.

Finally, since 2006, Attended Moving Traffic contravention Enforcement (MTE) under LLA&TFL 2003 Regulation, had also been introduced as an enforcement type. The introduction of enforcement of those traffic regulations by CCTV cameras, is one part of a wide-ranging programme of measures to improve the reliability and punctuality of public transport, and permitted vehicles,

to help reduce congestion, pollution and increase road safety. The aim of most traffic management measures, is to give priority to certain groups of road users by excluding others, or/and defining use of areas during prescribed hours, to meet the aims of Highways policy.

Since the start of 2020 and due to COVID resilience needs, LBHF had brought forward plans to transition to using Unattended Automatic Capture Cameras which have an ability to use ANPR technology. This Digital Transformation will, in the future allow for

a moveable deployed ability to help with Resident and stakeholder/Partner complaints, once we have established a network. We have introduced the 1st Traffic Congestion Pollution Reduction Scheme (TCPR) in July 2020. The Award winning, trend setting TCPR SW6 EAST camera scheme, helped with the above aims of increasing safety and cutting congestion in Residential roads, where non-Resident drivers short cut through and can aid some climate change aims of LBHF. It's now transitioned from experimental, to permanent scheme. We also introduced the 1st Phase of MTE and BLE Unattended cameras in late 2020/early 2021 covering Box junctions, and a Bus lane.

In general, these type of Unattended camera across the portfolio, will aid resilience/ contingency measures, in case camera facilities are lost due to such issues as fire, flood, damage, power loss. It will aid resilience/ Planning in case of more Viral outbreaks. Staff are now able to work at home or in other secure locations easily with laptops and internet connections. It will also increase operational traffic site coverage time and mean efficient use of staffing resources, making workloads simpler for CCTV operators and allowing some more work life balance for staff.

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The PCN appeals process

When a PCN is issued the owner of the vehicle is legally obliged to pay the penalty charge. Vehicle owners may dispute the issuing of a PCN at three stages:

  • They can make an informal 'challenge' before the council issues a Notice to Owner (NtO) or Enforcement Notice (for bus lane contraventions).
  • Once a NtO has been served, they can make a formal representation against the NtO (this can still be done if an informal challenge has previously been made and rejected). The legislation sets out specific grounds for formal representation against the NtO. However, whether or not those grounds apply, representations may also be made on the basis that, in the particular circumstances of the case, there are mitigating reasons for the cancellation of the PCN
  • We will issue a Notice of Rejection if the formal representation is rejected. The owner then has the right to appeal within 28 days to an adjudicator at London Tribunals. The adjudicators have a judicial status: they are appointed with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor and they are wholly independent. Their decisions are final and they have the power to award costs against either party

After this, no further challenges can be made, other than on a point of law through an application to the High Court for a Judicial Review.

Full details of the adjudication service and of the appeals process can be found on their website www.londontribunals.gov.uk

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Parking suspensions

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) forms part of the Inner London boroughs, where parking spaces are at a premium.

For this reason, suspensions have a very important part to play in the organisation of parking controls within the borough, as they allow residents and utilities to reserve space for a particular purpose, such as furniture removals, utilities and special events.

It is also important to note that if suspensions were withdrawn, motorists would see the impact of this action, as there would be mayhem on street, as well as the likelihood of an increase in congestion through double parking and illegal parking. To prevent these issues arising around parking controls, suspension requests are set with a reasonable notice period to warn other road users of the intention through the use of Department of Transport approved signs on street, which act as a warning of the impending plan to suspend parking.

To ensure that adequate warning notice of a suspension is given within LBHF, most applications for parking suspensions and payments must be made no later than the eighth day before the date requested.

Unless, the request is for more than 30 metres or, the request is for more than three days, when more notice is required, There

is also a graduated charge scheme which has encouraged those requesting longer term suspensions to give greater thought to the amount of time and space they need. Guidelines for both notice periods and the graduated charge scheme are available on the LBHF website at: https:// www.lbhf.gov.uk/parking/suspensions-and-road-closures.

Suspensions have a very important part to play in the organisation of parking controls

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Paying to park

We have upgraded our ticket machines and introduced mobile phone payments, providing a choice of payment methods.

  • Paying by mobile phone and online:
    88 per cent of people now pay to park by telephone using RingGo. It's very easy to register and use and it means you only pay for the time you use and you don't have to carry change.
  • Paying at on-street ticket machines:
    You can also use credit or debit cards, including contactless payments. You can also pay using cash at some machines.
  • Shopper bays:
    There are shopper bays placed in some of the busy shopping areas in the borough, allowing visitors to park, which cost only 20p per 30 minutes (maximum stay one or two hours depending on location) and we are continuing to identify more locations for shopper bays in the borough.

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Resident Visitor Permits (RVP)

The resident visitor permits are part of RingGo cashless parking. You may already be using RingGo to park outside your home zone.

It's a modern online system, and many of our residents already have accounts for use across London and beyond.

With a Hammersmith & Fulham Resident Visitor Permit (RVP), you can give your visitors parking for just £1.80 an hour. It is designed to support our residents when they have visitors to their home AND when they visit friends and family across the borough. We have frozen the Resident Visitor Permit at £1.80 an hour for all homes in H&F for the seventh year running.

All residents across H&F can also use the RVP and RingGo system to provide free access for their visitors travelling into the camera-controlled South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood area.

We have frozen the Resident Visitor Permit at £1.80 an hour for all homes in H&F for the seventh year running

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Looking ahead

The Clean Air Neighbourhood project extension

The experimental traffic order to extend the scheme to the west of WBR was approved in December 2021.

This trial is expected to begin in 2022 following extensive resident engagement and consultation. The consultation will continue to run for at least six months from the date the order starts and residents will be encouraged to provide feedback.

The council has also agreed to introduce 20mph speed limits on Wandsworth Bridge Road and New Kings Road and to develop further traffic mitigation measures for Wandsworth Bridge Road.

Officers are to attend a series of meetings, which have been organised by residents in the area, to explain how the project works, the plans for the western extension, and proposed improvements for Wandsworth Bridge Road.

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REAP Programme

The Resident Experience and Access Programme (REAP) is a significant programme of digital transformation. It will transform the way residents interact with a large number of council services as well as building on the council's commitment to being ruthlessly financially efficient and doing things with Residents, not to them.

REAP aims to centralise customer contact and maximise use of technology to ensure all of our services are fully accessible via digital channels and to introduce efficient processes that enable the standardisation of the resident's journey to ensure greater efficiencies and financial savings. The business case for REAP was based on a phased approach commencing with high volume, transactional services in phase 1, Parking being one of the first.

REAP Programme Specific Principles

  • To provide a consistent approach and standard for resident access across all council services.
  • To bring more council services online so that residents can self-serve from initial contact to fulfilment and move towards digital service solutions.
  • To provide an assisted digital offer so that disabled residents and those who are digitally excluded can continue to access the services they need.
  • Provide joined up, targeted and practical support for residents that need our compassion and assistance.
  • To realise the expected savings and other benefits of the programme.

REAP are looking at fundamental improvements to all of the various parking permit (Resident, Business, Key Worker, etc) application processes. For example, one of the improvements will be to offer a fully online application process, with a range of automation and pre-validation built into the process. For example, using data we already currently hold to verify residency, so as to reduce the need for the resident to provide duplicate information.

Another example is using data directly from the DVLA to automatically provide accurate data on car emissions, car height, etc. There are a number of other improvements aimed at achieving the principles above.

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Unattended camera trial

We have started to introduce a second phase of the unattended camera pilot, to increase the sites covered by unattended cameras.

This will include Box junctions, Bus lanes, one-way streets, no entry and U turns. This will be a nine-month pilot to collate data and experience on four cameras suppliers' equipment, support and to look at how this

works with on street works and enforcement needs. This will allow us to be able to make informed choices about what we can do in the future. The focus to go fully digital with unattended cameras in the future will be based on the above findings.

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CPZ Reviews

We intend to embark on a programme of CPZ reviews across the borough.

This programme will allow the council to shape how the kerbside is managed moving forward. With the ever-increasing demand for the highway to accommodate more than just parked vehicles these reviews will help to shape the neighbourhood street scenes from the perspective of residents and businesses across the borough.

These reviews will not only consider the need for parking provision, the reviews will also consider the growing need for secure cycle storage, e-scooter parking, localised parklets, EV charging points, improvements to road safety whilst continuing to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport to ensure the council is able to deliver on its environmental promises.

In order to maximise the opportunities it will mean several teams across the Transportation and Public Realm Directorates collaborating to deliver fit for purpose proposals and changes that will meet the needs of the local communities.

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On-street asset audit

The council will be undertaking an extensive on-street asset audit across all CPZ areas, to ensure that:

  • All parking signage and markings are accounted for, fit for purpose and correctly in place to allow enforcement of restrictions
  • To ensure all parking restrictions match Traffic Orders
  • Ensure the kerbside is being used effectively and meets the needs of residents and visitors to the borough

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Traffic Orders

The Traffic Orders team currently have 29 Controlled Parking Zone Orders, Loading Places Orders, Market Traders Orders, Disabled Bay Orders, Car Clubs, Electric Vehicles and a number of other static traffic orders.

In the next year, the Traffic Orders Team aims to migrate the current text-based traffic order system to a map based traffic orders system and consolidate all the static traffic orders into only two orders for the whole borough.

The Traffic Orders team aim to also consolidate the moving traffic orders into three orders to cover the whole borough.

Both the above projects will result in considerable savings in officer time across various environment departments by only needing to access one of five orders for the whole borough in order to respond to highways enquiries, freedom of information requests, appeals enquiries.

Furthermore, the map-based traffic order system can be adapted to produce a public facing portal where the public and other council departments can view traffic orders in a map based format. In order to improve the temporary traffic order service where we process hundreds of applications each year, the traffic orders team will develop e-form applications.

The Traffic Order team will lead the borough wide review of every Controlled Parking Zone in the borough to ensure street clutter is reduced and restrictions on the highway accurately reflect the legal traffic orders in operation.

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Statistics, financial information, reviews and monitoring

Financial statistics

Within the council's budgeting processes and procedures, the parking account is a 'memorandum account', which is set up and collated from the council's accounts.

It is necessary to set up the parking account in this way since any surplus generated can be spent only on certain allowable transport, parking, and highways related activities, as specified by law, and accounted for separately in the council's accounts to show transparency.

Parking income and expenditure

Income from the on-street operation in 2020/21 totalled £29.3 million, and the expenditure to provide the on-street service was £15.6 million.

The surplus of £13.7 million was transferred to the council's Car Parking Reserve which we use to fund off-street parking, public transport and other transport and highways related improvements.

Although the council sets the level of permit and pay and display charges, the level of penalty charge notices, clamping, and removal fees are set by London Councils' TEC. The highest proportion of income is from visitor parking reflecting the demand for these facilities.

The surplus of £13.7 million was transferred to the council's Car Parking Reserve which we use to fund off-street parking

Application of surplus

The council has discretion on how to spend any surplus that may arise, within the allowable uses set by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Under current legislation, the application of any surplus is limited to meeting the cost of providing and maintaining parking facilities, highways improvement schemes, highway maintenance, public passenger transport services and certain other service categories.

On-street account 2020/21
Total Income £29,305,822
Total Expenditure £15,620,119
Surplus £13,685,703
Application of parking surplus
Contribution to capital schemes controlled parking zones and lamp columns) £911,577
Concessionary Fares £9,016,454
Taxicard £146,712
Highways Maintenance £15,956,213
Street Trees £531,439
Lighting, traffic signs, pedestrian crossings £524,868
Surplus (Deficit) -£13,401,560
Government Grant (Covid) £10,432,900
Deficit after grant carried forward -£2,968,660

Penalty charges

The amount a council may charge for a PCN is set by London Councils TEC, agreed by the Mayor of London and ratified by the Secretary of State and this.

As the demand for road space and parking is more intense towards the centre of London, PCN charges are generally higher in Central and Inner London. The whole of Hammersmith and Fulham is in the highest parking charge band, Band A.

On 15 April 2011 the Band A penalty charges were set at:

  • Higher rate - £130 reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days
  • Lower rate - £80 reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days

These charges have not increased since then.

The PCN issuance for 2020-21 can be broken down as follows:
Issued 2020 - 2021 HF LLAA CCTV MV HF RTA BUS HF TMA CCTV HF TMA HH Total
No. of Higher Level PCNs Issued 343,791 6,860 7 71,668 422,326
No. of Lower Level PCNs Issued N/A N/A N/A 12,654 12,654
No. of vehicles removed N/A N/A N/A 390 390
No. of vehicles relocated N/A N/A N/A 1,084 1,084

Payment of PCNs

If a vehicle owner pays a PCN within 14 days of the date of issue, a 50 per cent discount applies.

Representations that we receive within the initial 14-day period can result in us cancelling a PCN, but if we decide not to cancel the PCN, we allow a further 14 days from the decision date for payment to be made at the reduced rate.

Payment of PCNs

PCNs Paid 2019 - 2020

 HF LLAA CCTV MV HF RTA BUS HF TMA CCTV HF TMA HH

Total number of PCNs paid

 111,309 5,608 6 55,184
No. of PCNs paid at discount 102,397 5,098 6 45,384
No. of PCNs paid at face value 3,079 358 0 7,733
No. of PCNs paid at Charge Certificate or beyond 5,833 152 0 2,067

Key:

  • LLAA - London Local Authority Act
  • RTA - Road Traffic Act
  • TMA - Traffic Management Act
  • MV - Motor Vehicles
  • HH - Hand-held
  • BUS - Business

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Annual statistics on civil enforcement officers' safety

Unfortunately, CEOs are subject to high levels of abuse and assault, both verbal and physical, whilst carrying out their duties.

In order to provide support to CEOs our contractor has implemented an alarm system that can be sent by personal radio to their control room.

  • Code Yellow is sent by a CEO when he or she is being subjected to an intense verbal assault that could become physical. CEOs are encouraged to distance themselves from the person who is abusing them at this point
  • Code Red is sent when a CEO has been subjected to a physical assault or feels that it is imminent. If a Code Red is broadcast all CEOs and mobile units in the area will move to provide support to the threatened CEO
Annual statistics on civil enforcement officers' safety
2020/21 2019/20 2018/19
Code red 8 8 30
Code yellow 10 11 12

All of our Civil Enforcement Officers wear a body camera whilst on patrol of the borough. If a staff member feels that their personal safety is in danger, they will advise the member of the public that they will start recording the interaction. Such efforts can potentially defuse a volatile situation, and in a worst-case scenario, provide extensive evidence for the police to use in prosecution proceedings against the aggressor.

If you have any queries please email enquiries@lbhfparking.com or call 020 7371 5678

Published by Hammersmith & Fulham Council. July 2022

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