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Decision details

*Republished - no longer subject to call in* Parking Permit Prices Review

Decision Maker: Corporate Director of Business and Environmental Services

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: No

Decision:

The Corporate Director – Business and Environmental Services (BES) and the BES Executive Members noted the outcome of the updated review into parking permit prices. In particular the revised figures that simplify the charging structure and updated analysis of the legal aspects of the proposal having regard to current legislation, case law and statutory guidance.

Their decision was to proceed with the recommended increase to the charges for residential permits in line with the revised figures set out in Appendix 2 subject to the following additional information.

The Corporate Director and the Executive Members also considered whether the provision of season tickets in Harrogate should continue as this appeared to be counter productive to the Scheme. It was decided that the provision of season tickets is assessed to fully understand their use and any implications should they be removed from the permit scheme.

Reasons for the decision:

PLEASE NOTE This decision was originally published on or near the date of the decision and so call in no longer applies. It has been re-published as part of the change in committee management system that we use.

The report shows that there is currently a funding gap of £165k so the costs of administering the permit scheme exceed the payments received for permits. Although the Council’s provision of parking places currently produces a surplus overall part of that surplus is having to be used to support the permit schemes. The Parking Strategies and Management guidelines indicate that the cost of permits should be linked to the costs of administering the permit scheme and the proposal to increase the charges in line with the revised figures in the report will close the funding gap

In addition, the County Council has a duty under Section 122(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to exercise their functions as road traffic authority so as to secure (inter alia) the provision of suitable and adequate parking facilities on and off the highway. The provision of residential parking zones is a part of this duty and at present there is a moratorium on any investigations of existing and potential future schemes due to a lack of funding available to provide the resources needed. The decision to increase the charges in line with the revised figures will enable the costs of the permits to be more closely linked to the cost of administering the schemes and may provide scope for a modest surplus enabling the Council to lift the moratorium and begin investigations into requests related to existing and future residential parking zones in line with its duties pursuant to S122.

The decision to implement the revised pricing will simplify and bring consistency to the charges across the county. This will remove the historic situation where the charges for the same permits were different depending on where you lived.


The legal advice was given detailed consideration by the Corporate Director – Business and Environmental Services (BES) and the BES Executive Members and they were satisfied that the proposal was appropriate and proportionate and in line with the legislation and guidance.

Alternative options considered:

Option 1 was considered and rejected as it did not meet the requirements to rationalise and standardise the proposed charging levels across the county.

Publication date: 30/04/2021

Date of decision: 15/12/2017