Housing and Environmental Scrutiny Panel

Parking Contract Performance from January to December 2014

16th March 2015

Outline

• Contract overview

• Services provision

• Parking locations and functions

• How is our budget spent

• Pro-active performance management

• Customer Service

• Enforcement

• Permit processing

• Response to PCN challenges (penalty charge notices)

• Enquiries and complaints

• Areas of improvement

Contract Overview

Contract Facts

• 5 year contract to July 2018 (option to extend for 5 years)

• Annual Value: 2.3m (11.5m over the life of the contract)

• 3.1m savings benefit (over 5 years) by outsourcing parking services to SERCO

• Working with Brent and Ealing as part of the WLA (West London Alliance)

• Key area’s of service include: Enforcement, back office correspondence and processing, Pay & Display

• No deductions apply for under-performance, SERCO are paid 5.26% profit for achievement of KPI’s

• 18 core performance standards (KPI’s) across Brent, Ealing and Hounslow

Service Provision

4

Permit processing

Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)

Removals and car pound operations

Civil Enforcement

Officers

CCTV Operation

Pay and Display

Machines

Collection / banking of

cash payments

1st Response Maintenance

Customer call back service

(to be removed in 2015)

Community safety

Pay and Display Machines - 2nd

line maintenance

2nd Stage PCN representations

(to PCN challenges)

Concessionary Transport unit (eg:

Blue Badge, Freedom passes, Taxi Cards)

processing and enquiries

RefundsCar park cleaning

Key

Provided by SERCO

Retained by Hounslow

To be removed 2015

CCTVCCTV

Back Office and PoundBack Office and Pound

Contract Management and Commissioning

Contract Management and Commissioning

Civil Enforcement Officer Bases

Parking Locations and Functions

Derby Road, Hounslow

Chiswick Town Hall Bridge Road DepotWhitby Avenue & Park Royal

Civic Centre, Hounslow

Operated & Owned  by

Operated  by Operated  by

Operated  by

Operated & Owned by

Owned byOwned by

Owned by

and

6

How is our Budget Spent?

Pro-active Performance Management

Frequency Performance management activity Why

Daily • Review daily report • Monitoring of performance and against KPIs• Member & resident query management

• Daily review of SERCO output for the previous day to ensure services are being carried out effectively

Weekly • On-street inspections (spot checks)

• Weekly review with Commissioning

• To ensure street scene services are being carried out correctly (P&D maintenance, suspensions)

• To discuss additional services required and toreview any cross cutting projects or challenges

Fortnightly • Operational review meeting • Address any operational service challenges and discuss performance over the previous f/night

Monthly • Review of tri-borough SERCO report • West London Alliance review meeting • Contract review meeting

• Commercial monitoring

• Monthly engagement and joint review of SERCO performance to ensure consistency of service and discuss any cross cutting projects.

• Budget and invoice review to validate spend and ensure ongoing value for money

6 monthly • Strategic Partnership Board review of service • Joint review by Directors at Brent, Ealing and Hounslow to address any high level challenges or cross cutting issues

Annually • Open book review • To ensure SERCO expenditure is in line with contractual agreement

Customer Service

• A decision was made not to have a inbound call centre when the Parking contract was outsourced

• The call back service will be removed in 14/15 as part of the Councils savings plan

• 91% of call backs related to PCN enquiries in 2014 (challenges must follow a statutory process)

• The remaining 9% of call backs primarily related to parking permits and suspensions which have dedicated points of contact available by email

• All available lines of communication are displayed on our website including email addresses for contacting specific areas of service

• Online solutions including Easi permits and Online Case management have been implemented to provide more efficient channels for customers to challenge their PCN or apply for a parking permit

Enforcement

• On foot enforcement is our largest area of contract spend

• Year on Year performance of PCN issuance by CEO has increased

• SERCO are currently exceeding the contract expectation of 1.5 PCNs issued per hour

• High performance in enforcement will drive compliance to ensure roads and controlled parking zones are working effectively for residents and visitors

Permit processing

• Consistently processing permit applications within 10 working days (average 3.5 working days in 2014)

• Not currently measured as a contractual performance standard

• Implementation of the Easi permit solution in 2015

Response to PCN challenges

• Serco are required to respond to all PCN challenges within 10 working days

• The 10 working day response time was achieved throughout 2014 with an average of 5 working days

• A total of 2,343 PCNs were cancelled in 2014 as a result of PCN challenges

• SERCO are measured on this area of service

Enquiries and Complaints

• 365 pieces of correspondence received by customer services in 2014 which are either complaints, enquiries or concerns

• 4 complaints were escalated to stage 2 in 2014 of which none were escalated to stage 3

• Month on month improvement in responding to complaints within the councils SLA timeframes

• Weekly monitoring in place to keep performance standards high

Areas of Improvement

Challenge Resolution

Suspensions: residential parking bay suspensions being put up without a sufficient notice period for residents to find alternative parking while the suspension takes place

Permit related correspondence: Enquiries about permits are being answered within 10 working days, we believe this can be improved upon

Quality of written correspondence: Style and content of letters sent by SERCO should be consistent with the style and content of letters sent by officers within Hounslow (eg use of wording and phrasing)

Alternative methods of due diligence implemented to reduce processing time required (virtual site checks on line)

SERCO are looking at ways for enquiries to be responded to more quickly than applications (which require processing time). We would like general enquiries answered within 48 hours of receipt

Through weekly monitoring and quarterly reviews, we are working with SERCO to improve the quality of their written correspondence so that it reflects the letters issued by Hounslow

We are currently working with SERCO to improve the following areas of service: