| |
WARDENS’ ROAD FINE ‘TARGETS’
‘Staff’ letter claims parking workers are set a minimum ticket number
PARKING chiefs have been forced to defend themselves against new allegations that wardens are set targets for the number of tickets they must issue.
City Hall and private operators NSL Services Group have denied claims made in an anonymous letter circulated around the council, allegedly written by a member of parking staff.
They claim the letter is a work of a “mischief” maker from outside their workforce.
Labour councillors and unions, however, insist that the allegations of targets should become the subject of a formal investigation.
The letter – claiming to speak for the borough’s entire force of wardens – was sent to Kevin Goad, head of parking at Westminster and Labour group leader Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg.
It contains reports of bullying, describing how officers were “threatened” if they fail to issue enough tickets and that they were “encouraged” to hand out “illegal” tickets.
It is the first time grievances have apparently come directly from wardens, whose jobs were recently rebranded “Civil Enforcement Officers” (CEOs).
The council has dismissed the letter as axe-grinding from a “few disgruntled workers” and insisted the claims are groundless.
The most serious of the allegations is the existence of a daily target for penalty charge notices for each warden – which stands in direct opposition to the council’s claim that it scrapped targets back in 2004.
Others parts of the letter claim wardens are being issued with faulty radios that makes them vulnerable to assault and intimidation.
The council employs 200 CEOs on its streets.
“NSL Services Group gave us target penalty charge notes which we have to issue every day,” says the letter, seen by the West End Extra. “What they call base target or base expectation. All the supervisors and managers will come to the CEOs asking them how many you have today. If you told them you have less tickets they will ask you to do more.”
Cllr Dimoldenberg said: “At the very least these are very worrying allegations. The council has always said they never set targets. Usually it is motorists that complain about parking tickets so to have something from CEOs is very significant.
“There is no reason to believe the complaints aren’t genuine. With the pressure the council is under to raise funds and cover debts, it’s not surprising that parking is used as a money-making exercise.”
Stephen Higgins, branch secretary of Westminster UNISON, said: “Anonymous or not, this is very serious and in my eyes not surprising. The council has a record of farming things out to contractors and then not keeping a close eye on how the staff are treated. It is unprecedented to get a letter from CEOs and there should be an immediate investigation.”
Last year Westminster issued almost 690,000 parking tickets – down from just under 817,000 on the year before.
But NSL spokesman Tim Cowen is adamant the letter did not originate from one of their CEOs.
He said: “This letter bears no relation to what actually happens in our operation in Westminster. We believe it was written by someone who does not work for us, who wishes to cause mischief by circulating untrue allegations.”
Cllr Danny Chalkley, Westminster’s cabinet member for city management, said: “We take the working conditions of all our staff very seriously and work with our contractor NSL to ensure our parking attendants are fully supported in the difficult and challenging job they do.” |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
