Agenda item

This report recommends the Council’s approach to adopting a phone app-based parking payment solution. This system would be usable at existing ‘pay by plate’ locations including council carparks and certain on-street locations.

Recommendation

That:

i)         Members note the report and approve officers to progress the implementation of an app-based parking payment solution including entering an agreement/contract with a provider;

ii)        Members approve the mitigations outlined in 2.5;

iii)       Members agree to not pursue the National Parking Platform but plan for future compatibility as outlined in 5.2;

iv)       Members agree for officers to progress with procuring an app under the recommendation outlined in 5.4;

v)        Members delegate the final details to progress an app-based parking solution to the Director or Finance in conjunction with the relevant Lead Member, to implement the new system in the current financial year;

vi)       That public access to the report be immediate; and

vii)     That public access to the decision be immediate.

The Committee received a report which recommended an approach to adopting a phone app-based parking payment solution.  The system would be usable at existing ‘pay by plate’ locations, including council car parks and certain on-street locations.

The Principal Sustainable Transport Officer reported that the proposal sought to address changes in customer preferences and was intended to bring benefits both to the council and to visitors to its car parks.  For the consumer it would mean having a system which some might find easier to use, and which removed the need to walk to a physical payment machine.  It would allow parking sessions to be extended (even if the session was started on a machine), and there may be potential for customers to be refunded if their parking session was shorter than expected.  It would also allow customers to pay for parking in the event of a physical payment machine being out of order.  For the council it would allow the avoidance of low utilisation of parking areas in the event of a machine being out of order and may in the future allow for a reduction in the number of physical payment machines thereby reducing the cost of implementing and maintaining parking schemes.  The Council could also investigate providing permits or other parking services through the app in future.

Potential dis-benefits had been identified as possible fraudulent activity arising from false QR code stickers directing customers to a fraudulent payment portal.  In mitigation it was proposed not to use QR codes for payment in any parking areas, and for officers to review car park tariff boards to educate visitors about the risk of fraudulent QR codes.  There was also a risk to the Council in terms of the cost of implementing the scheme.  This had been considered, and it was recommended to use a provider which could match the convenience fee which was leveraged on physical payment machines, meaning that the tariff paid by the user would be the same whichever method was used.  A further dis-benefit was the risk of digital exclusion: for this reason it was the intention that the app-based parking payment solution would complement, rather than replace, the existing provision of physical parking machines.  Members agreed that retention of parking machines for the foreseeable future was very important in order to avoid the risk of digital exclusion.

A Committee Member disagreed with the proposal not to participate in the National Parking Platform (which allowed any provider to be used within a car park), expressing the view that the platform would be likely to lead to benefits arising from providers competing with each other, and would also allow the purchasing power of the participating councils to be leveraged.  Non-participation would also mean that Watford, Dacorum and Three Rivers could each use different providers, meaning that residents would require several different apps. 

Officers responded that they were not recommending participation in the National Parking Platform (NPP) at the current time because it would not allow the Council to have any control over the convenience fee which the providers charged.  It would also not allow the Council to provide discretionary services such as free parking sessions.  Additionally, the NPP was still very new and so it was not known how effectively it would operate.  However, it was recommended to plan for future compatibility, and to include a break clause in any agreement with the chosen provider, to allow for participation in the future.  Officers considered that, as the service would be new for the Council, and in order to secure best value, a single provider approach was preferable at the current time.

In response to a suggestion that the date for the break clause should be specified, officers responded that the recommendations in the report included delegation to the Director of Finance in conjunction with the relevant Lead Member, to finalise the details and implement the new system.  Legal advice would be sought as part of the procurement process to ensure that there was sufficient provision to allow the Council to participate in the NPP in the future if it chose to do so.  There was as yet no timescale for the delivery of the service, nor was there clarity about how the NPP would develop.  It was therefore not possible to be specific about the timing of the break clause; however, officers would closely monitor the development of the NPP and take legal advice as part of the procurement process.

In response to a Member’s question, officers clarified, in relation to the table at section 4.1 of the report, the difference between the two ParkSmarter introductory convenience fees.  The 19p per transaction convenience fee was for provision of the service in an introductory area (which was the approach officers were minded to pursue); the 18p rate would be for provision across all parking areas. 

A Committee Member recommended the approach of initial provision in a pilot area, to allow for any problems to be addressed prior to a wider roll-out.  

Another Committee Member expressed reservations about using a provider which is new to the market, and a lack of projected year on year costs, such as rate increases.  Officers responded that this would be looked at in detail as part of the procurement process.  It was also requested that officers should discuss with the Lead Member to either bring a further update report to the Committee, or provide a briefing for Members, in due course.

The Chair moved that the recommendations be approved, subject to expansion of recommendations (ii), (iii) and (iv) to include the report sections referenced, with the final wording to be circulated to the Committee prior to publication of the minutes.  On being put to the vote this was agreed, the voting being 6 for, 0 against, 3 abstentions.

RESOLVED:

That:

i)         Members note the report and approve officers to progress the implementation of an app-based parking payment solution including entering an agreement / contract with a provider;

ii)        Members approve the mitigations shown below (copied from section 2.5 of the report):

The disbenefits and proposed mitigations of implementing an app-based parking solutions include:

iii)       Members agree to not pursue the National Parking Platform but plan for future compatibility as outlined below (copied from section 5.2 of the report);

To ensure the consistency for tariffs for users, this report does not recommend the council pursues joining the National Parking Platform at the stage. However, officers recognise that the industry is likely to move towards this service and would therefore recommend future proofing our parking areas to move to NPP.

This includes:

Requesting our nationally unique NPP area code and location codes for our parking areas which will be used with the chosen provider.

Having a break clause in the contract to allow movement from the chosen provider to the NPP when the council feels this is appropriate.

iv)       Members agree for officers to progress with procuring an app under the recommendation outlined below (copied from section 5.4 of the report);

To maintain or reduce the costs incurred by the council, officers recommend that the council consider utilising the ‘ParkSmarter’ app provided by IPS Group or another provider which can match or exceed this expected cost. The council would seek further procurement advice on completing any agreement.

v)        Members delegate the final details to progress an app-based parking solution to the Director or Finance in conjunction with the relevant Lead Member, to implement the new system in the current financial year;

vi)       That public access to the report be immediate; and

vii)     That public access to the decision be immediate.