Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration presented the Strategic Parking Review report for Members’ consideration. It was noted that there had been some disappointment in the length of time it had taken for the report to be presented to Members. It was also noted that the report did not fully address the business case to look at alternative providers, including an in-house service. Unfortunately, it was felt that this would no longer be an option due to the delays experienced. It was explained however, that there was still the opportunity to make some amendments if necessary to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Wychavon District Council in order to ensure the best provision for Bromsgrove and its residents.

As a result of the detailed discussions at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 11^th February 2025, several recommendations were made by the Board as follows:

• Recommendation 1 – The Business Case and Service Review for the Strategic Parking Review be deferred for 6 months until the issues identified have been addressed as not fit for purpose, in that it did not cover bringing the service in-house.
• Recommendation 2 – there should be an increase in the proposed Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) patrol time, greater than 25%, included in the Service Level Agreement (SLA), as the current proposal of 25% was not considered to be adequate.
• Recommendation 3 - More CEOs should be funded to operate in the District as opposed to introducing an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) service.
• Recommendation 4 – The Council retained cash payment options for car parks in the District.
• Recommendation 5 – A study be launched reviewing parking in Alvechurch.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration addressed these recommendations during the presentation of the report and stated that as a result of the pre-scrutiny there had been several changes to the recommendations contained within the Cabinet report.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration explained the amendments and further recommendations as follows:

Recommendation 6 – It was suggested that additional wording in bold be included in this recommendation as follows:

“The Assistant Director of Regeneration and Property Services following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, subject to any scrutiny of the proposals, develops a detailed business case and implementation plan including all technical surveys and full costs to install, where practicable and affordable, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to Recreation Road South, St Johns and Windsor Street car parks and to also investigate other car parks under the ownership of the Council.”

It was explained that this amendment was as a response to the recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Board in respect of deferring the business case, the implementation of an ANPR system at some locations in the District and the wish to retain cash machines for payments within the car parks throughout the District. It was further clarified that it had been a directive from the previous Government that a cash  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69