Agenda item

The Department of Transport (DfT) had invited local authorities with Designation Orders for parking enforcement to apply to enforce moving traffic offences. This would help improve road safety, reduce congestion, and promote active traffic and clean air policies.  Enforcement of moving traffic offences outside of London and Cardiff was currently undertaken by the Police.

Across England, all authorities were now permitted to apply and enforce parking and bus lane contraventions.  This was by way of an application for a Designation Order. Buckinghamshire Council currently had five Designation Orders, which in their entirety cover the whole of the Buckinghamshire county.  The number of Designation Orders was largely due to the timing when legacy Councils respectively applied for civil parking enforcement powers covering on and off street, and bus lanes.

The powers would enable the Council to enforce certain moving traffic offences such as, no entry, yellow box junctions, banned turns, and environmental weight limits. The powers also allowed stopping on school keep clears to be enforced by camera, as long as they were supported by a valid Traffic Regulation Order. A full list of contraventions that could be enforced utilising these powers is provided at Appendix A of the report.

The new powers did not allow the Council to enforce structural weight limits; these had not been included on the final list and enforcement of these restrictions would remain with the Police. The difference between an environmental weight restriction and a structural weight restriction was provided at Appendix B of the report.

The Cabinet report also contained information:

-                     On the key benefits of the Council adopting the new powers.

-                     On the conditions that a local authority must meet and commit to in respect of bringing forward moving traffic enforcement sites.

-                     That to support the application and make sure local authorities progressed and implemented the new powers in a timely manner, the DfT had requested that specific sites were identified on the applications and enforcement was then introduced to ensure the Order was used.  A list of the specified sites was detailed at paragraph 2.19 of the Cabinet report.

-                     That enforcement was carried out using an approved device. This was a camera with automatic number plate recognition that had been certified by the VCA (Vehicle Certification Agency).

-                     That the aspiration was to undertake a review of the initial locations approximately 12 months following installation of the cameras. This would enable sufficient time to pass following the six-month period of warning notices to first offenders. In the meantime, compliance levels would be regularly monitored.

-                     That all new locations, after the initial period, would be agreed in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport.  This would include the requirement for a minimum 6 week consultation for every new location, although further approvals from the DfT would not be required.

-                     That to publicly engage with Members, local businesses, residents, and visitors a consultation had taken place from 21 February 222 to 4 April 2022.  The outcome had resulted in 477 responses, of which 63% supported enforcement of moving traffic offences in Buckinghamshire.  A large number of responders also supported the initial locations. A summary of the responses from the consultation could be found in Appendix C to the Cabinet report.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That approval be granted for an application to be submitted to the Department for Transport for Buckinghamshire Council to apply for a Designation Order to enforce moving traffic offences.

(2)               That the cost of the cameras including the processing system, estimated at £276,000, be met from within the existing capital programme.

The Department of Transport (DfT) had invited local authorities with Designation Orders for parking enforcement to apply to enforce moving traffic offences. This would help improve road safety, reduce congestion, and promote active traffic and clean air policies.  Enforcement of moving traffic offences outside of London and Cardiff was currently undertaken by the Police.

Across England, all authorities were now permitted to apply and enforce parking and bus lane contraventions.  This was by way of an application for a Designation Order. Buckinghamshire Council currently had five Designation Orders, which in their entirety cover the whole of the Buckinghamshire county.  The number of Designation Orders was largely due to the timing when legacy Councils respectively applied for civil parking enforcement powers covering on and off street, and bus lanes.

The powers would enable the Council to enforce certain moving traffic offences such as, no entry, yellow box junctions, banned turns, and environmental weight limits. The powers also allowed stopping on school keep clears to be enforced by camera, as long as they were supported by a valid Traffic Regulation Order. A full list of contraventions that could be enforced utilising these powers is provided at Appendix A of the report.

The new powers did not allow the Council to enforce structural weight limits; these had not been included on the final list and enforcement of these restrictions would remain with the Police. The difference between an environmental weight restriction and a structural weight restriction was provided at Appendix B of the report.

The Cabinet report also contained information:

-                     On the key benefits of the Council adopting the new powers.

-                     On the conditions that a local authority must meet and commit to in respect of bringing forward moving traffic enforcement sites.

-                     That to support the application and make sure local authorities progressed and implemented the new powers in a timely manner, the DfT had requested that specific sites were identified on the applications and enforcement was then introduced to ensure the Order was used.  A list of the specified sites was detailed at paragraph 2.19 of the Cabinet report.

-                     That enforcement was carried out using an approved device. This was a camera with automatic number plate recognition that had been certified by the VCA (Vehicle Certification Agency).

-                     That the aspiration was to undertake a review of the initial locations approximately 12 months following installation of the cameras. This would enable sufficient time to pass following the six-month period of warning notices to first offenders. In the meantime, compliance levels would be regularly monitored.

-                     That all new locations, after the initial period, would be agreed in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport.  This would include the requirement for a minimum 6 week consultation for every new location, although further approvals from the DfT would not be required.

-                     That to publicly engage with Members, local businesses, residents, and visitors a consultation had taken place from 21 February 222 to 4 April 2022.  The outcome had resulted in 477 responses, of which 63% supported enforcement of moving traffic offences in Buckinghamshire.  A large number of responders also supported the initial locations. A summary of the responses from the consultation could be found in Appendix C to the Cabinet report.

During discussion the following points were made:-

·         The Leader reported that he was previously Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board, the Board had lobbied the Government for a number of years on devolving these powers to Councils. He expressed disappointment that weight restrictions had not been included.

·        14 problem areas (listed in the report) had been identified when looking at road safety data which would be subject to a public consultation and there could be other locations identified in the future with the main aim being changing driver behaviour. In addition to the safety reports and historical data, camera trials took place at Castle Street and Corporation Street in High Wycombe to assess the level of abuse. This showed that on average 480 motorists per day abused the restriction on Corporation Street and 381 motorists abused the restriction on Castle Street.

·        In terms of choice of sites there had to be a geographical spread across the County including a variety of offence such as environmental weight restrictions, some turnings and bus lanes. With reference to Handy Cross there were hatchings and box junctions but in order to enforce there needed to be a Traffic Regulation Order and it needed to be in place for that particular site. In addition the roundabout was covered by Highways England which complicated matters so their agreement would be required to obtain the TRO to be able to enforce. Therefore implementation of this particular Scheme would take some time.

·        The Cabinet Member had made sure that the Council was in the first tranche of applications to the Department of Transport to obtain these powers and the cut off for this was in 12 days time. If this was not undertaken now the Council could not apply or consideration of the application could not be made until October. If the Council were successful with their applications they could start enforcing by the end of the year.

·        The sites on the list would change as they were mobile cameras. It was a rolling programme which would change once good driver behaviour had been established. There would always be a requirement to consult on TRO’s and the Council would need to plan where the cameras were moving next reacting to any changes in the road network.

·        A question was asking about a licence for ANPR in car parks. The Cabinet Member clarified that the Council was not enforcing in car parks. The use of ANPR was covered by the way that DfT were extending their powers as this was already in use in London. The Council would have the same requirements on usage of data.

·        Reference was made to the geographical spread and including Aylesbury on the list particularly Market Square and Kingsbury both of which had current traffic infringements. The Cabinet Member reported that the earlier data which had been used was where cameras were already situated. There were some schemes in the plan for Aylesbury but the schemes were not all related to bus lanes or pedestrian zones. There were 14 locations and 16 cameras and the reason for this was that the Council already had powers to enforce in bus lanes in some instances so two of those cameras would be dealing with bus lane infringements where a TRO does not need to be in place.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That approval be granted for an application to be submitted to the Department for Transport for Buckinghamshire Council to apply for a Designation Order to enforce moving traffic offences.

(2)               That the cost of the cameras including the processing system, estimated at £276,000, be met from within the existing capital programme.