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Suffolk councils take over parking enforcement

Decriminalisation sees boroughs and districts tackle nuisance parking in towns and village

Mark Moran
10 June 2020
 

Councils in Suffolk have worked together to keep roads safe for emergency vehicles and key workers, in readiness for the move of statutory parking enforcement powers.

Decriminalised parking has been in operation in Ipswich since 2005, but it has been a police responsibility across the rest of the county. However, parking has become a lower priority for them, so Suffolk County Council is transferring this responsibility to local district and borough councils under a process known as civil parking enforcement (CPE).

East Suffolk, Ipswich Borough and West Suffolk Councils will carry out civil parking enforcement in their own areas. Within Babergh and Mid Suffolk district councils these services will be provided by West Suffolk and Ipswich Borough Council.

District and borough councils already manage public car parks in many towns and villages.

Suffolk Constabulary has been supportive of the move because the transfer of responsibilities frees their time to concentrate on other areas of police demand, to help keep people safe, prevent crime and bring offenders to justice.

Decriminalisation of parking will help free up police resources that were carrying out enforcement duties. Police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore said: “I am absolutely delighted to see civil parking enforcement launched across the whole county. It’s taken a while to get here so it’s great to see parking enforcement handed over to councils at last. The council-run parking teams will, without doubt, provide more effective parking enforcement than the police because it will be their main focus.”

In light of the current COVID-19 situation, the council said they will be taking a common-sense view and focussing on tackling obstructive and dangerous parking to ensure emergency, care, delivery, refuse and highways services can get around safely at this challenging time.

As part of the national response to the pandemic, advice from the British Parking Association and the Local Government Association is that parking enforcement is an important public service that keeps roads safe and ensures access to goods and services. Cllr Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for highways, transport and rural affairs, said: “I am pleased that we have reached a consistent county-wide approach in how parking is managed during the coming weeks and months. I very much welcome the cross-council collaborative working in order to deliver better parking for Suffolk. Our colleagues will continue working together to ensure CPE is successfully launched and I look forward to seeing the benefits locally that these changes will bring, now and in the near future.

“Despite the unprecedented challenges we are experiencing currently, there are certain projects that continue in the background, and the move of statutory parking enforcement from the police to districts and boroughs is no exception.

“Although this move must take place now, it is extremely important that we are pragmatic in our approach to parking management and enforcement at this time. This builds on the continuing county-wide efforts to tackle the challenges and impacts of COVID-19, with our priority fixed on keeping roads open and safe and to protect parking spaces for healthcare workers, volunteers and people supporting the most vulnerable. That is why it is vital that we focus our resource on tackling dangerous and obstructive parking that could hinder key services from carrying out their duties.”

The coronavirus pandemic means there has been a focus on dangerous and obstructive parking on key routes and roads used by emergency services.

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