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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 21 November 2008

Parking strategy is designed ‘for profit rather than for the people’

New army of wardens and higher fees mean ‘income targets will be met’

PARKING chiefs have been accused of seeking to boost income from tickets after hiring a new army of traffic wardens.
The Town Hall recruited 30 new wardens amid fears that its budget was short of £500,000 because of a slide in the number of tickets issued.
Pay-and-display charges were also increased.
The details of recent parking strategy have been revealed in an email sent to all councillors from recently resigned Liberal Democrat finance chief Councillor Andrew Cornwell, listing items that would have been discussed had this week’s cabinet meeting not been cancelled.
He said: “From a previous forecast overspend of around £500,000 on the parking account, there is now a forecast that income targets will be met, following an increase in pay-and-display charges, and fuller deployment of enforcement officers.”
Labour councillor James Murray accused the council of seeing parking “for profit rather than people”.
He said: “The message is quite clear. They have used parking as a revenue raiser. They see it as an income stream so when they saw themselves coming short they made sure they could make up the difference by getting the wardens out there issuing tickets.”
Environment chief Councillor Greg Foxsmith said the warden recruitment drive was ordered because the ranks were understaffed.
He said: “The bigger picture is revenue is down in Islington and in most boroughs almost certainly due to enforcement working and people parking more carefully. We had too many vacancies and were struggling to fill them but we’re now back to a full complement.
“It’s Andrew, of all people, who probably feared that common-sense parking was going to lead to a drop in income because we haven‘t got incentives for enforcement officers. Having more Civil Enforcement Officers on the streets is not about creating extra revenue but about ensuring residents’ spaces are protected and vehicles are not parked illegally or dangerously.”

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