Flexibility is the key for effective Civil Enforcement in Liverpool

“Ongoing regeneration is enabling the city to build on its cultural and economic heritage and helping to create a dynamic, vibrant and constantly evolving urban environment,” says Roy Tunstall, Head of Parking Services at Liverpool City Council.  “Our challenge is to match this progress with an adaptable and effective approach to travel and transport that ensures everyone has fair and safe access to the city even when there is a huge influx of visitors during weekends and attending the growing number of major events in the city.”

Recognising that a more flexible and responsive approach to civil enforcement would help to maximise compliance and maintain traffic flow around the centre of Liverpool, the City Council undertook a comprehensive review of its existing support systems and procedures and went out to competitive tender in 2015.

The subsequent appointment of Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions led to the introduction of the company’s 3sixty enforcement and permit processing system for all new Penalty Charge Notices and resident’s parking permits. Supported with new Motorola handheld terminals fitted with Rialto enforcement software and the Powercube management information system, the new solution provides real-time downloading of data and advanced self-serve functionality including on-line evidence and payment options.  Such features have provided an immediate 12% increase in payment recovery within the initial discount period for Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).

Installed in tandem with the existing legacy system, the new solution will enable the authority to maximise service integration as it continues to support an increasingly integrated transport infrastructure for the city and promotes wider use of public transport and car sharing.  Such an integrated approach will help the Council to manage the increased traffic volumes in the city created by the M62 corridor expansion and will also simplify the introduction of new initiatives such as extending cashless options for parking payments.

“The thorough review of our priorities and operational requirements and the familiarisation visits to other system users have really paid off,” says Colin Turnbull, Senior Administration Officer in Liverpool City Council’s Parking Services team.  “All aspects of notice processing are now much easier to manage and much more reliable.”

“Effective and prompt reconciliation, advanced search capabilities and the ability to glean advanced management intelligence is helping us to respond more promptly to queries. In particular it is helping us to respond far more quickly to any requests for information. We can also plan ahead more effectively and have been able to adopt a much more responsive approach to the issue of special concessions and parking permits in connection with major events.  Such flexibility enables us to take decisive actions to help minimise disruption to traffic flow and accessibility – which is especially important in relation to the major redevelopment projects in different areas of the city.”

The Council’s parking services team comprises just over 40 Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) with responsibility for encouraging compliance and parking enforcement in 12 city centre car parks as well as Pay and Display on-street parking and permit controlled parking areas.  A fourteen strong back office team is responsible for all processing of around 66,000 PCNs a year and the management of around 23,000 permits for the large residents’ parking areas adjacent to the city centre and visitor and business parking in other controlled parking zones.

“We’re delighted to have secured the contract with Liverpool City Council,” adds Doug Woodhouse of Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions.  “Our management software and web-enabled support systems have been developed to transform operational efficiencies in all areas of civil enforcement.  And, for Liverpool, I’m sure the versatility and reliability of the systems will prove to be a genuine asset for the parking services team as they rise to the challenges presented by such an inspirational and constantly evolving metropolitan area.”