West End letters: Profit-making | Martin Kennedy | NSL Services | Mr Justice Cranston | High Court

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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 23 October 2009

Driven by big profit-making

• NO one will ever get to the bottom of what is going on at Westminster Parking until the contract between NSL Services and Westminster Parking is made public.
On October 1, at the High Court, Mr Justice Cranston ruled that contractors and local authorities cannot use “commercial confidentiality” to prevent taxpayers from viewing contracts between private firms and councils or other public bodies.
Perhaps West End Extra could request a copy of the contract between NSL Services and Westminster Parking under the Freedom of Information Act in order to find out once and for all what incentives are built into it.
Just because it is claimed that wardens do not have “targets” does not rule out commercial incentives.
In common with all public/private contracts it is highly unlikely that NSL Services would be bothering with all this without financial incentives.
Dismissing these wardens as disgruntled employees does not stand up, because their claims are confirmed by the experiences of tens of thousands of motorists.
NSL director of communications Tim Cowen declares: “We have already had two investigations of targets and both of these have shown we have nothing to hide.”
What were these then – self-administered investigations? If you’ve got nothing to hide, Mr Cowen, show us the contract.
Martin Kennedy
Brewer Street
W1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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