16 October 2006
PARK PROPERLY OR PAY THE PENALTY
For too long law abiding motorists and pedestrians have paid the penalty for illegal parkers.
However from the end of this month motorists who park illegally are more likely to be caught and will face tougher penalties, Roads Minister David Cairns said today.
He was speaking at the launch of a public awareness campaign to highlight the introduction of Decriminalisation of Parking Enforcement (DPE) which sees responsibility for on street parking enforcement transferring on 30 October from the Police Service of Northern Ireland to the Department for Regional Development.
"Which of us has not had to endure slow and disrupted journeys because of congestion caused by those who thoughtlessly park where they shouldn't? Pedestrians and motorists alike have also had to face unnecessary dangers trying to negotiate the obstacles that illegal parkers put in their way,'' said the Minister.
"DPE will see our new traffic attendants concentrating on enforcing parking and waiting restrictions to help make our streets less congested and safer. Where necessary they will issue penalty notices of £60.
"By the twin approaches of enforcement and education we hope to encourage illegal parkers to follow the example of the vast majority of road users and park properly and avoid the need for them or indeed anyone else to pay the penalty."
At today's event the Minister also unveiled the new uniform that will be worn by traffic attendants and paid tribute to the work that many of them had carried out as traffic wardens. Many of the former traffic wardens are transferring to the new enforcement service provider, NCP.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The enforcement of on-street parking and waiting restrictions is currently the responsibility of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, mainly through the Traffic Warden service.
2. In 2001 the PSNI stated its intention to withdraw fully from such enforcement to target resources on areas of greater policing priority, including tasks related to road safety.
3. The PSNI and Roads Service have been working in partnership since 2002 to take forward the process of changing parking infringements from being criminal offences to civil contraventions.
4. From August to October 2003 the Department carried out public consultation on the proposals to decriminalise parking enforcement in Northern Ireland. The public consultation also set out the Department's intention to take powers to use advances in technology to assist in enforcement and to take powers to clamp or impound vehicles in certain circumstances. The proposals received general support.
5. The report on the public consultation on the proposals to decriminalise parking offences can be viewed on the Roads Service website by clicking on the 'consultations' link at www.roadsni.gov.uk.
6. From March to May 2005 the Department carried out a public consultation on the draft Traffic Management (NI) Order, to provide the primary legislative power to introduce decriminalised parking enforcement, DPE, in Northern Ireland. In July 2005 the Traffic Management (NI) Order 2005 was made in Parliament.
7. The principal message is 'Park Properly or Pay the Penalty' and this will be reinforced by reminders on TV, radio and on posters.
8. The penalty charge for a parking ticket will be £60 reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days of receiving the ticket. This £30 level is the same as a fixed penalty notice currently issued by the PSNI for parking offences.
9. Routine enforcement will be by the issue of penalty charge notices (parking tickets). Clamping and impounding will initially only be used to recover outstanding debt or in circumstances where persistent offenders are a problem.
10. The de-clamp fee will be £40 while the cost to recover a vehicle that has been impounded will be £105. These are the same levels used in England and Wales, outside London. In both cases the parking ticket issued must also be paid.
11. Following a rigorous procurement exercise National Car Parks Ltd was awarded the contract to provide parking enforcement and car park management services on 18 August 2006. NCP have extensive experience of managing decriminalised parking operations.
12. Following an equally rigorous IT procurement exercise SPUR Information Solutions Ltd were appointed on 18 August 2006 to provide a computer system to process all parking tickets issued.
13. The contract awards and the programme to have DPE operational by the end of October were announced in a Ministerial News Release on 21 August 2006.
14. The Department has not set NCP any targets for numbers of tickets to be issued. Nor are there ticket targets for traffic attendants to achieve. If fewer tickets are issued this means that our aim of reducing the amount of illegal parking is being achieved.
15. The new Traffic Attendants will only enforce parking and waiting restrictions. They will not have any responsibility for directing traffic as Traffic Wardens do at present. Responsibility for traffic direction remains with the PSNI.
16. Media queries to: Emma Flynn Davies, Press Office, Department for Regional Development, Tel 028 9054 0007.
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