To answer questions from members of the public pursuant to Executive Procedure Rule No. 13
Minutes:
QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC NO.1
Under Schedule 4, 13, Mr P Hill, 55 Strode House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth asked the Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People, Councillor M Greatorex, the following question:-
"Firstly could I thank you for solving the parking problems regarding staff on the car parks of Strode, Weymouth and Peel House.
However, I wish to question the Riverside contract permits which do not state the vehicle registration number. The reason why I question this is because I have noticed cars parked in the car parks of the flats with contractors permits displayed, however, no work is being carried out. For example, I recently saw a lady park her car and take her child shopping, whilst displaying a contractors permit on her windscreen."
The Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People gave the following response:-
Thank you for your question; this is the first question to a Portfolio Holder at Cabinet.
The Council issues parking permits to essential repair, building and maintenance contractors for use at Riverside, generally by our Housing Team for the multitude of Contractor who deliver services on our behalf.
Because of the generic nature of the work some of these permits tend to be non vehicle specific, and as such do not have a registration number attached to them.
Contractor passes are also issued on occasion to short term office staff (generally based from Marmion House), who require the use of a car as part of their work. These do tend to be for a specific vehicle
Contractors may park in the permitted area for a length of time suitable for the work undertaken.
The Community Payback Team, who arrange valuable work in the community with offenders also have a Contractor pass to enable their work to continue.
It has been recognised that there may be some passes in circulation that may not have been returned and appear to Civil Enforcement Staff to be still valid. To reduce this all of our enforcement officers now have a full list of all cancelled permits to ease the concern.
Persons found to be using fraudulent badges will be issued with penalties and the permits where possible will be destroyed.
It is not possible to prevent employees or contractors with valid badges maybe dropping children off at nursery/going shopping on way to or from work, so long as the purpose for them parking is to carry out their work duties.
Work is ongoing with the teams who issue permits to ensure where practicable registration numbers are allocated to permits when they are issued.
All Residents are encouraged to supply pass details and vehicle registrations of any cars/vans they have concerns about for checking.
Supplementary question:
I’m not disputing Riverside Contractors permits. Permit offers no idea whether week or day permit. Surely if a day permit it should state this. Believe Contractor permit valid unless aware invalid.
The Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People gave the following response:-
The situation is complicated and difficult to monitor. Civil enforcement staff will be made aware and will ensure issues are dealt with appropriately.