1. business and industrial
2. company
3. joint venture

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
Pay and
Display
Machines
Collection /
banking of
cash payments
Permit
processing
1st Response
Maintenance
Removals and
car pound
operations
Penalty Charge
Notices (PCNs)
Civil
Enforcement
Officers
CCTV
Operation
Refunds
Car park
cleaning
Key
Provided by SERCO
Retained by Hounslow
To be removed 2015
Pay and Display
Machines - 2nd
line
maintenance
Concessionary
Transport unit (eg:
Blue Badge, Freedom
passes, Taxi Cards)
processing and
enquiries
Customer call
back service
(to be removed
in 2015)
Community
safety
2nd Stage PCN
representations
(to PCN
challenges)
4
Parking Locations and Functions
Civil Enforcement Officer Bases
Back Office and Pound
Whitby Avenue & Park Royal
Chiswick Town Hall
Bridge Road Depot
Operated by
Operated by
Owned by
Owned by
Operated & Owned by
Contract Management and
Commissioning
Civic Centre, Hounslow
CCTV
Derby Road, Hounslow
Operated by
Operated & Owned by
Owned by
and
How is our Budget Spent?
6
Pro-active Performance Management
Frequency
Daily
Performance management activity
Why
•
•
•
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
•
On-street inspections (spot checks)
•
To ensure street scene services are being carried
out correctly (P&D maintenance, suspensions)
•
Weekly review with Commissioning
•
To discuss additional services required and to
review 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
•
Monthly engagement and joint review of SERCO
performance to ensure consistency of service
and discuss any cross cutting projects.
•
Commercial monitoring
•
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
Weekly
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
We are currently working with SERCO to improve the following areas of service:
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
Alternative methods of due diligence implemented to reduce
processing time required (virtual site checks on line)
Permit related correspondence: Enquiries about permits
are being answered within 10 working days, we believe this
can be improved upon
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
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)
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