A report advising the Sub-Committee on the proposal to change Residents Parking Scheme rules for Healthcare Professional, Carer, Temporary and Daily and Annual Landlord and Tradesperson Permits and on options to allow Hunter’s Wharf Residents visitor parking permits.

emporary Permits – The Council had introduced Print at Home permits for Temporary Permits in August 2019 and the current permit scheme rules stated that Temporary Permits were eight week permits, charged at £15.  They were issued to residents who had just moved into a property, changed their vehicle or had a temporary change of vehicle.  The temporary permit gave the residents time to change their address details on documents such as bank statements, utility bills, insurance and DVLA documents for their residents permit.  With the success of the print at home Temporary Permits a further option was to expand the scheme to permits for Emergency Cover.  The permit would be issued directly on application with a statement of reasons but no proofs provided, it would be valid for seven days and only one permitted every six months to each household.  The charge would be £30 or £40 for the permit and they could be issued one week in advance of the start date or on the date of issue.  The permit would be sent by email to the applicant and they could be printed and displayed immediately.

Daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permits – The current arrangement for Daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permits was still processed by the Customer Services Team or by the Permit Team through postal applications.  The permits were provided as one day scratchcards and charged at £10 per day, with a maximum of 30 per year per vehicle.  The print at home option could be extended to cover the daily tradesperson permits and allow traders to apply for the application through the online service.  This would decrease the number of visits to the Council offices and provide a self serve system to the traders.  The charge of the permit discouraged some traders from purchasing them and insisting on residents providing their visitor permits.  The report recommended that the fee should be reduced to £7.50 for online Trader and Landlord permits but to leave the £10 fee for applications that were processed by the Customer Services Team or by post.  The online self-service option would require the Traders to provide the date and vehicle registration number for the permits to be validated, the scratchcard permits could be issued without a date but the vehicle registration would still be required.

Annual Landlord Permits – The current rules stated that annual Landlord Permits were issued to Landlords who owned four or more properties, anything less and they could apply for daily Landlord Permits.  The fee for an Annual Landlord Permit was £330 and there had been eight issued in 2018/19.  Landlords who owned less than four properties were willing to purchase an annual permit and the report recommended that this requirement was removed.  The landlord would still have to provide proof of ownership of properties within a permit scheme.  Landlords had also stated that most of their viewings took place after 7.00pm and had requested that the 7.00 am to 7.00 pm limit was removed or the evening extended.

Hunter’s Wharf Households – The residents of Hunter’s Wharf on Katesgrove Lane had asked if they could be allowed free discretionary visitor permits.  Hunter’s Wharf had not been included in the permit scheme and had a planning informative which prevented any permits from being issued.  Most households had allocated off street parking, the exception to this was four households (numbers 25, 27, 30 and 32) which had no allocated parking and had been one discretionary residents permit (but no visitors parking permits).  There were 32 households within the development and the Permit Zone 10R availability was currently at 91%.  The report asked the Sub-Committee to consider if all households should be allowed discretionary visitor permits, if they should be free or charge or charged and how may permits there should be per household.

Resolved –

(1)     That the following professions be added to the list of approved professions for Healthcare Professional Permits:

·         Education Welfare Officer;

·         Family Worker;

·         Youth Offending Service Worker;

·         Specialist Youth Support Worker;

(2)     That Carer Permits Rules be unchanged, whilst noting that the Sub-Committee had the discretion to grant carer permits outside the policy in exceptional circumstances;

(3)     That a new Print at Home Emergency Cover Permit be introduced at a charge of £30 per permit;

(4)     That a new Print at Home daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permit be introduced at a charge of £7.50;

(5)     That the Annual Landlord Permit amendments, as set out in paragraph 4.3.27 of the report, be approved, which would remove the requirement that the landlord owned four or more properties to qualify for an annual permit and the restriction that the permit could only be used between 7am and 7pm;

(6)     That the households in Hunters Wharf be offered up to five books of discretionary Visitor Permits for purchase at the usual charge;

(7)     That the Permit Management Rule and Definitions be updated to reflect the changes.The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report advising the Sub-Committee of the proposal to change the Residents Parking Scheme rules for Healthcare Professional, Carer, Temporary, Daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permits and Annual Landlord Permits and on options to allow Hunter’s Wharf Residents visitor parking permits.  The following appendices were attached to the report:

Healthcare Professional Permits – The Council had issued 277 Healthcare Professional Permits in 2018/19; these permits were issued at a charge of £40 and a list of the registered professionals they were issued to was included in the report.  The permits were issued as on ‘All’ zone permit to specific vehicles and allowed the permit holder to park in any Permit Zone (excluding Town Centre restrictions).  Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) had requested that Education Welfare Officer, Family Worker, Youth Offending Service Worker and Specialist Youth Support Worker were added to the list of entitled professions and the job descriptions had been appended to the report to confirm that they were required to make home visits as part of their role; a statement from BFfC had also been provided to support the change to the permit rules.  In response to a question about why Emotional Well-being Practitioners were not included on the list of professions, it was likely that these workers did not regularly work out-of-hours and their visits kept to within two hours.  However, BFfC could make a further request on their behalf, if it was deemed necessary.  Carer Permits – The Council had issued 92 Carer Permits in 2018/19; these permits were issued to households where the resident was over 65 years of age and/or registered disabled.  The permit enabled their carer(s) to park while visiting to assist with their needs, they were not issued to households that had been issued with a residents permit.  A Carers Permit allowed up to three vehicles per permit and the carer could not reside at the household.  In exceptional circumstances the Sub-Committee had granted two carer permits and a residents and carers permit.  The report asked the Sub-Committee to decide if there should be any changes to the carer permit applications where there were no family or friends to assist and allow agencies to apply.

Temporary Permits – The Council had introduced Print at Home permits for Temporary Permits in August 2019 and the current permit scheme rules stated that Temporary Permits were eight week permits, charged at £15.  They were issued to residents who had just moved into a property, changed their vehicle or had a temporary change of vehicle.  The temporary permit gave the residents time to change their address details on documents such as bank statements, utility bills, insurance and DVLA documents for their residents permit.  With the success of the print at home Temporary Permits a further option was to expand the scheme to permits for Emergency Cover.  The permit would be issued directly on application with a statement of reasons but no proofs provided, it would be valid for seven days and only one permitted every six months to each household.  The charge would be £30 or £40 for the permit and they could be issued one week in advance of the start date or on the date of issue.  The permit would be sent by email to the applicant and they could be printed and displayed immediately.

Daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permits – The current arrangement for Daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permits was still processed by the Customer Services Team or by the Permit Team through postal applications.  The permits were provided as one day scratchcards and charged at £10 per day, with a maximum of 30 per year per vehicle.  The print at home option could be extended to cover the daily tradesperson permits and allow traders to apply for the application through the online service.  This would decrease the number of visits to the Council offices and provide a self serve system to the traders.  The charge of the permit discouraged some traders from purchasing them and insisting on residents providing their visitor permits.  The report recommended that the fee should be reduced to £7.50 for online Trader and Landlord permits but to leave the £10 fee for applications that were processed by the Customer Services Team or by post.  The online self-service option would require the Traders to provide the date and vehicle registration number for the permits to be validated, the scratchcard permits could be issued without a date but the vehicle registration would still be required.

Annual Landlord Permits – The current rules stated that annual Landlord Permits were issued to Landlords who owned four or more properties, anything less and they could apply for daily Landlord Permits.  The fee for an Annual Landlord Permit was £330 and there had been eight issued in 2018/19.  Landlords who owned less than four properties were willing to purchase an annual permit and the report recommended that this requirement was removed.  The landlord would still have to provide proof of ownership of properties within a permit scheme.  Landlords had also stated that most of their viewings took place after 7.00pm and had requested that the 7.00 am to 7.00 pm limit was removed or the evening extended.

Hunter’s Wharf Households – The residents of Hunter’s Wharf on Katesgrove Lane had asked if they could be allowed free discretionary visitor permits.  Hunter’s Wharf had not been included in the permit scheme and had a planning informative which prevented any permits from being issued.  Most households had allocated off street parking, the exception to this was four households (numbers 25, 27, 30 and 32) which had no allocated parking and had been one discretionary residents permit (but no visitors parking permits).  There were 32 households within the development and the Permit Zone 10R availability was currently at 91%.  The report asked the Sub-Committee to consider if all households should be allowed discretionary visitor permits, if they should be free or charge or charged and how may permits there should be per household.

Resolved –

(1)        That the following professions be added to the list of approved professions for Healthcare Professional Permits:

·         Education Welfare Officer;

·         Family Worker;

·         Youth Offending Service Worker;

·         Specialist Youth Support Worker;

(2)        That Carer Permits Rules be unchanged, whilst noting that the Sub-Committee had the discretion to grant carer permits outside the policy in exceptional circumstances;

(3)        That a new Print at Home Emergency Cover Permit be introduced at a charge of £30 per permit;

(4)        That a new Print at Home daily Tradesperson and Landlord Permit be introduced at a charge of £7.50;

(5)        That the Annual Landlord Permit amendments, as set out in paragraph 4.3.27 of the report, be approved, which would remove the requirement that the landlord owned four or more properties to qualify for an annual permit and the restriction that the permit could only be used between 7am and 7pm;

(6)        That the households in Hunters Wharf be offered up to five books of discretionary Visitor Permits for purchase at the usual charge;

(7)        That the Permit Management Rule and Definitions be updated to reflect the changes.