North Yorkshire Council

Executive

15 April 2025

Pay and Display Machine Replacement

Report of the Corporate Director - Environment

1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 To highlight the need to replace the council’s current stock of Pay and Display machines plus the barrier control systems in two multi storey car parks and to highlight capital funding of £2.062m is required to replace the machines and generate an estimated saving of £587k per annum.

1.2 To also request an additional £400k to replace old sodium lighting with new LED heads and ageing lamp columns where necessary in the council’s surface car parks.

2.0 SUMMARY

2.1 This report seeks approval for the replacement of the councils 429, On and Off-Street Pay and Display Machines (P&D). This figure includes changing the vehicle control systems in two of the council’s three multi storey car parks in Harrogate, namely, Victoria and Jubilee from barrier controlled, Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) Pay on Foot systems to P&D. The current set of P&D machines across the county were procured and installed by the seven former borough and district councils and range in age from between 5 and 20 years old. The aim of the project is to save up to £587,474 per year after installation. If approved, the installation will take approximately 12 months from the contract award date before the savings will begin to be realised. These savings will form part of the £1m saving included in the financial plan for 2026/27.

2.2 The lighting in surface car parks is also ageing, and the proposal is to replace old sodium lighting with new LED heads and ageing lamp columns where necessary at a cost of £400k. Parking Services have continued to maintain the lighting where possible, but this is becoming increasingly more challenging due to spare parts for the sodium lighting not being available.

3.0 BACKGROUND

3.1 Harrogate Multi Storey Car Parks – Harrogate has 3 multi storey car parks with Victoria and Jubilee equipped with Barriered ANPR Pay on foot systems and West Park multi storey car park having P&D equipment. The remainder of the county consists of surface level car parks with P&D machines, the mixture of suppliers and amounts of machines are summarised below:

Table 1

Number of P&D Machines by Age and Supplier
	Flowbird P&D	Metric (Richmondshire only) P&D	Scheidt & Bachmann (Victoria & Jubilee only) ANPR	Total (%)
Operational (< 10 years old)	41	0	0	41 (10%)
End of Life (>10 years old	355	16	17	388 (90%)
Total	396	16	17	429

3.2 Further to the number of machines, the Richmondshire Metric Machines are all coin only, whereas all of the Flowbird and Scheidt & Bachmann machines offer coins, chip and PiN and contactless payment methods. Currently around 95% of the P&D machines are solar powered.

3.3 Income Data from 23/24 – A total of £15,641,569 was generated last financial year (2023/24) from On and Off–Street parking. From this, approximately £12.8m was generated from these P&D machines specifically and about 47% of the Flowbird transactions were completed by card and the overall position is summarised below:

Table 2

Income Generated from On and Off-Street Parking (Excluding VAT for 2023/24)
On-Street	£3,164,981.61
Off-Street	£12,476,587.47
Total Amount	£15,641,569.08
Income Split by P&D Machines and Apps (Excluding VAT for 2023/24)
Machines only	£12,877,769.11
Apps only	£2,763,799.97

3.4 Number of Transactions data from 23/24 – a total of 7,557,520 transactions were made via the current machines and apps showing how important these business-critical systems are to the council, which adds strength to this business case. The transaction numbers are summarised below:

Table 3

All transactions	P&D		Apps		Multi-storey*	Totals
All transactions	Off-street	On-street	Off-street	On-street	Multi-storey*	Totals
Scarborough	724,361	204,673	498,846	74,972		1,502,852
Harrogate	1,434,091	830,472	61,306	205,652	789,209	3,320,730
Ryedale	384,416					384,416
Richmond	111,659		51,002			162,661
Hambleton	985,586		78,130			1,063,716
Craven	866,535					866,535
Selby	256,610					256,610
Total	4,763,258	1,035,145	689,284	280,624	789,209	7,557,520

3.5 Costs – it has been difficult to break down some of the existing expenditure because these costs were apportioned between the seven former districts, but a summary of the costs are shown in the table below:

Table 4

	Current Costs Amount spent (excl. VAT) across existing suppliers in 2023/24
Maintenance	£276,178.44*
Reconfiguration and back-office fees	£81,442.60
Stationary (paper and printers)	£82,116.17
Estimate of card transactions and merchant bank fees	£497,455.14**
Total cost p/a	£937,192.35

3.6 *To understand the maintenance costs associated with the Flowbird machines, data was pulled from Oracle for all Flowbird invoices, but it was not possible to cipher from the invoice descriptions what each cost referred to. As such, all other known Flowbird costs were removed from the total figure in this dataset (i.e. for printers, reconfiguration, and back-office system fees etc), and it is assumed that the remaining portion is due to maintenance costs. The costs associated with existing maintenance contracts were added on to provide the overall maintenance spend (note that the maintenance contract figures for 2024/25 were used for those in place at Craven, Hambleton and Northallerton). The other known costs for Flowbird are included in the other lines of the table.

3.7 **The card transaction fees for Flowbird were calculated based on the total number of card transactions multiplied by the transaction fee for each region. For the merchant bank fees, a standard fee of £0.07 was assumed. This was based on the average fee per transaction processed in Harrogate and Scarborough for which data were available.

3.8 Also inherited, are a number of car parks that are still retaining old sodium lighting and many others with ageing lamp columns and need to be replaced, so as part of this bid for capital funding and additional £400,000 is being asked for in the scope of the savings generated by the machine replacement ask outlined above. Currently, there are some potential savings associated with changing lamp heads in the car parks. The current conventional 150w lantern, compared to the 80w LED equivalent will save approximately £85 per year per lamp when operating for 4273 hours. This is the perceived amount of hours that lighting is required given the seasonal clock changes that occur during the yearly cycle.

4.0 DETAILED PRESENTATION OF THE SUBSTANTIVE ISSUE

4.1 The council has inherited a total of 429 Pay and Display machines from the former districts, they range in age from 5 to 20 years old and some have reached end of life. Equally there are three multi storey car parks in Harrogate and two of those have barrier controlled ANPR systems which have reached end of life and will fail in November 2025 with any support being withdrawn by the current supplier. Collectively all of these machines handle in excess of 7 million transaction per annum which generates circa £15 million in revenue (Gross). As well as replacing the machines entirely because of age the project will also generate £587,474 per year in savings.

5.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

5.1 These P&D machines are business critical items that generate significant amounts of revenue. To do nothing will only buy a short amount of time before they start to fail. Richmondshire machines, in their entirety, have no more spare parts available for example.

6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6.1 The table below summarises the capital costs associated with the planned works, and the estimated saving generated.

Table 5

Capital Costs	Option 1 Do nothing option (Current Costs)	Option 2 Outright purchase of 430 machines using indicative costs
Year 1 Capital costs for supply, installations etc	N/A	£2,061,850
Car Park Lighting Replacement	N/A	£400,000
Annual Revenue Costs	Current Costs 2023/2024	Outright costs p/a over a 5-year period
Maintenance	£276,178.44	£40,000
Reconfiguration and back-office system fees	£81,442.60	£64,500
Stationary (paper and printers)	£82,116.17	N/A
Estimate of card transaction and merchant bank fees	£497,455.14	£303,673.07
Total costs p/a	£937,192.35	£408,173.07
Potential revenue savings p/a		£529,019.28
Additional Saving if we join NPP		£58,454.79
Combined savings total		£587,474.07
Payback period in years		4

6.2 The savings of £587k are a part of the original MTFS requirement of £1.000m and are due to be realised at the 2026/27 financial year and beyond. The savings figure of £587k is also inclusive of £58.5k that will be realised in the 26/27 financial year if the council joins the National Parking Platform (NPP) for which we are about to apply to join. This saving comes from transactional fee arrangements with the NPP which is charged at 2.5% of each transaction which is more favourable than the currents rates.

6.3 There is no budget within the capital plan to fund the capital investment required for the proposal of £2.462m. It is proposed that funding is made available from the LGR Reserve in order to generate savings of £587k per annum.

7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

7.1 These machines are business critical systems that must conform to the auspices of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

8.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

8.1 There are no equality issues impacted by this report and as such the screening report is attached at Appendix A.

9.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

9.1 The new machines will be ticketless meaning that no paper will be required in the form of tickets saving money, landfill space and contribute to the council carbon objectives by not having to replenish machine ticket rolls. The old sodium lighting uses around 150w at each lamp whereas the new LED lamps provide better efficiency by working at only 80w nearly 50% less power to achieve better results. The full climate assessment is at Appendix B to this report.

10.0 POLICY IMPLICATIONS

10.1 These machines will complement the objectives of the Local Transport Plan.

11.0 RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

11.1 The current stock of Pay and Display machines do represent a business risk in so much as they are ageing, and some are completely at end of life with no further spare parts available.

12.0 ICT IMPLICATIONS

12.1 The new machines data management system will be hosted by the supplier and ICT has have been fully represented at the project stage.

13.0 CONCLUSIONS

13.1 The current stock of 429 P&D machines throughout the council area is approaching end of life with 90% of them at over 10 years old. The whole operation is currently costing the council £937,192 p/a and in changing them will save £587,474 p/a.

14.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

14.1 The proposed replacement of ageing machines, which currently generate approximately £15 million per annum, will result in significant savings and enhanced customer experience. The new ticketless machines will save around £587k annually and align with the council’s environmental objectives by reducing paper usage. This change will eliminate the need for approximately 4 million P&D tickets annually, contributing to both waste reduction and climate goals by removing the necessity for ticket replenishment. Additionally, a £400k capital investment in car park lighting will further support savings and climate targets. Replacing conventional 150w lanterns with 80w LED equivalents will save approximately £85 per lamp per year, based on an estimated 4273 hours of operation due to seasonal clock changes.

15.0

RECOMMENDATION(S)

15.1

It is recommended Executive:

i) approves the capital sum of £2,461,850 to be funded from the LGR Reserve to replace the current 429 P&D machines. Included in this total is £400,000 to replace old sodium lighting with new LED heads and ageing lamp columns where necessary in the council’s surface car parks; and

ii) notes that with the capital investment, an estimated annual saving of £587k is forecast to be achieved which will contribute to the £1.000m saving target included in the 26/27 financial plan.

APPENDICES:

Appendix A – Equalities impact assessment screening form

Appendix B – Climate Change screening form

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Karl Battersby

Corporate Director – Environment

County Hall

Northallerton

07 April 2025

Report Author and Presenter – Steve Brown, Head of Parking Services

Initial equality impact assessment screening form This form records an equality screening process to determine the relevance of equality to a proposal, and a decision whether or not a full EIA would be appropriate or proportionate.
Directorate	Environment
Service area	Parking
Proposal being screened	Parking Machines Replacement Programme
Officer(s) carrying out screening	Steve Brown Head of Parking Services
What are you proposing to do?	Replace all of the councils Pay and Display Machines
Why are you proposing this? What are the desired outcomes?	The parking machines have reached the end of their useful life
Does the proposal involve a significant commitment or removal of resources? Please give details.	Replacing all 429 machines in 150 car parks across the whole region is a large undertaking of business critical systems. There are a further 26 car parks that are free without machines.
Impact on people with any of the following protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or NYC’s additional agreed characteristics As part of this assessment, please consider the following questions: · To what extent is this service used by particular groups of people with protected characteristics? · Does the proposal relate to functions that previous consultation has identified as important? · Do different groups have different needs or experiences in the area the proposal relates to? If for any characteristic it is considered that there is likely to be an adverse impact or you have ticked ‘Don’t know/no info available’, then a full EIA should be carried out where this is proportionate. You are advised to speak to your directorate representative for advice if you are in any doubt.
Protected characteristic		Potential for adverse impact				Don’t know/No info available
		Yes		No
Age				X
Disability				X
Sex				X
Race				X
Sexual orientation				X
Gender reassignment				X
Religion or belief				X
Pregnancy or maternity				X
Marriage or civil partnership				X

People in rural areas				X
People on a low income				X
Carer (unpaid family or friend)				X
Are from the Armed Forces Community				X
Does the proposal relate to an area where there are known inequalities/probable impacts (for example, disabled people’s access to public transport)? Please give details.		The proposal will be the same in every part of the whole council area but nothing much will change as they all currently use this type of machinery.
Will the proposal have a significant effect on how other organisations operate? (for example, partners, funding criteria, etc.). Do any of these organisations support people with protected characteristics? Please explain why you have reached this conclusion.		All of these areas have Pay and Display machines and the methods of payment will remain virtually the same but the machines have larger and brighter screens so a positive impact.
Decision (Please tick one option)		EIA not relevant or proportionate:	X		Continue to full EIA:
Reason for decision		No adverse impact upon any of the protected characteristics.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)		Barrie Mason
Date		07/04/2025

Climate change impact assessment

The purpose of this assessment is to help us understand the likely impacts of our decisions on the environment of North Yorkshire and on our aspiration to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2030, or as close to that date as possible. The intention is to mitigate negative effects and identify projects which will have positive effects.

This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. The final document will be published as part of the decision making process and should be written in Plain English.

If you have any additional queries which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Version 2: amended 11 August 2021

Title of proposal	Pay and Display Machine Replacement Programme
Brief description of proposal	To replace all 430 of the councils Pay and Display Machines
Directorate	Environment
Service area	Parking Services
Lead officer	Steve Brown
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	Jane Wilson Parking Policy and Technical Operations Manager
Date impact assessment started	06/03/2025

Options appraisal

These Pay and display machines are business critical items that generate significant sums amounts of revenue and is the best option for collecting it. To do nothing will only buy a short amount of time before they start to fail. Richmondshire machines, in their entirety, have no more spare parts available.

What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?

The table below summarises the capital costs associated with the planned works, and the estimated saving generated.

Capital Costs	Option 1 Do nothing option (Current Costs)	Option 2 Outright purchase of 430 machines using indicative costs
Year 1 Capital costs for supply, installations etc	N/A	£2,061,850
Car Park Lighting Replacement	N/A	£400,000
Annual Revenue Costs	Current Costs 2023/2024	Outright costs p/a over a 5-year period
Maintenance	£276,178.44	£40,000
Reconfiguration and back-office system fees	£81,442.60	£64,500
Stationary (paper and printers)	£82,116.17	N/A
Estimate of card transaction and merchant bank fees	£497,455.14	£303,673.07
Total costs p/a	£937,192.35	£408,173.07
Potential revenue savings p/a		£529,019.28
Additional Saving if we join NPP		£58,454.79
Combined savings total		£587,474.07
Payback period in years		4

The savings of £587,474.07 are a part of the original MTFS requirement of £1,000,000 and are due to be realised at the 26/27 financial year and beyond. The savings figure of £587,474.07 is also inclusive of £58,454.79 that will be realised in the 26/27 financial year if the council joins the National Parking Platform (NPP) for which we are about to apply to join. This saving comes from transactional fee arrangements with the NPP which is charged at 2.5% of each transaction which is more favourable than the currents rates.

How will this proposal impact on the environment? N.B. There may be short term negative impact and longer term positive impact. Please include all potential impacts over the lifetime of a project and provide an explanation.		Positive impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	No impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	Negative impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	Explain why will it have this effect and over what timescale? Where possible/relevant please include: · Changes over and above business as usual · Evidence or measurement of effect · Figures for CO₂e · Links to relevant documents	Explain how you plan to mitigate any negative impacts.	Explain how you plan to improve any positive outcomes as far as possible.
Minimise greenhouse gas emissions e.g. reducing emissions from travel, increasing energy efficiencies etc.	Emissions from travel		X		Although it might seem some moderate effect during the delivery phase it is compensated for by the fact that the machines are serviced for tickets and cash is collected regularly anyway	All of the new machines are ticketless and solar powered
	Emissions from construction		X			All machines will fit onto existing plinths
	Emissions from running of buildings		X
	Emissions from data storage		X
	Other		X
Minimise waste: Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost e.g. reducing use of single use plastic			X
Reduce water consumption			x
Minimise pollution (including air, land, water, light and noise)			X
Ensure resilience to the effects of climate change e.g. reducing flood risk, mitigating effects of drier, hotter summers			X
Enhance conservation and wildlife			X
Safeguard the distinctive characteristics, features and special qualities of North Yorkshire’s landscape			X
Other (please state below)			x

Are there any recognised good practice environmental standards in relation to this proposal? If so, please detail how this proposal meets those standards.

None

Summary Summarise the findings of your impact assessment, including impacts, the recommendation in relation to addressing impacts, including any legal advice, and next steps. This summary should be used as part of the report to the decision maker.

This report seeks endorsement of the replacement of the councils 430, On and Off-Street Pay and Display Machines (P&D). This figure includes changing the vehicle control systems in two of the councils three multi storey car parks in Harrogate, namely, Victoria and Jubilee from barrier controlled, Automatic Number Reading (ANPR) Pay on Foot systems to P&D. The current set of P&D machines were procured and installed by the seven former borough and district councils and range in age between 5 and 20 years old. The aim of the project is to save up to £587,474.07 per year after installation. If approved, the installation will take approximately 1 Year from the award date before the savings will begin to be realised. These savings will form part of the £1.000m saving included in the financial plan for 26/27. The new machines will be ticketless and therefore no paper tickets are required and no print function, apart from the obvious climate benefit that brings the machines will also require less servicing as a result to further improve the position from acclimate perspective.

Sign off section

This climate change impact assessment was completed by:

Name	Steve Brown
Job title	Head of Parking Services
Service area	Parking
Directorate	Environment
Signature	Steve Brown
Completion date	06/03/2025

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Barrie Mason

Date: 07/04/2025