Dear Mr Houston

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request for Information

Thank you for your email received 3 August 2009 requesting the following information:

“Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I would like to request some information relating to the enforcement of parking restrictions, specifically penalty charge notices.

1. I would like to request the raw data set of parking tickets issued in the name of the council within the last five year period broken down by: date, time, location, narrative of infraction, current status of case, next status of case, transaction details (ie. date, time and method of payments made), officer ID

2. I would also like to request any information to `reward'/bonus schemes/contracts in place for your parking enforcement officers. This is envisaged to cover the details of any systems, including (where bonuses are paid) the amount per officer per year, for the last five years.

Regarding part 1. ideally I would like the location unit to be 'street' but if this is not practical then under your section 16 duty to advise and assist I would expect you to contact me to discuss how you record this geospatial data so that I may narrow my request in a way that works for both of us.

As a supplementary, under section 16, I would also ask that you provide some detail about the recording processes of this parking information. E.g. What software is used? What data fields are recorded? What other data sets it links to, etc.

If this information is held by an outside contractor then it is your responsibility under the FOIA to obtain that information.

If it is held by another public body then please can you inform me of this and if possible transfer the request to that public body. My preferred format to receive this information is by electronic means. For both parts I would like the response to be in the form of a raw text file, tab delimited, with text qualifiers where required.

If you need any clarification of this request or if it is too broad in any way please feel free to email me. If some parts of this request are more difficult to answer than others please release the answerable material as it is available rather than hold up the entire request for the contested data.

If FOI requests of a similar nature have already been asked could you please include your responses to those requests. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you within the 20-working day statutory time period.”

Your request has been considered and I am able to give you the following information:

1. The Council has liaised with Nottinghamshire County Council who undertake Notice Processing on our behalf. Apparently, they have received the same request for information from you, and they have informed us that the system does not currently have a report written to provide this information; therefore, they are liaising with the software supplier and will keep us informed. When we hear from them I will write to you further.

The Borough Council has been issuing Penalty Charge Notices since 19 February 2009 and I attach a report that identifies the number of tickets issued by location since that time.

To compile a report showing the information you have requested would have to be done manually, and this will take in excess of 60 hours. The Freedom of Information legislation allows public authorities to refuse a request if it costs more than £450 to fulfil. This threshold includes staff time, printing, stationery and postage costs. At the prescribed £25 per hour, this is equivalent to approximately two and half days' (18.5 hours) of officers' search time. The Council does not have the resources available to carry out this task, even if you were to offer to pay for the work to be done, therefore, the Council is not obliged to answer this part of your request.

2. The Borough Council does not operate a bonus system for parking enforcement.

The software used is Chipside Case Manager.NET. For each case, the system records information relating to: -

To help us to improve the quality of our responses to future Freedom of Information requests, any feedback you may have on this response would be appreciated. A copy of the Council's Customer Comments leaflet is attached to assist you. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your enquiry and the information you have received, please follow the Council's Complaints Procedure. You may put your complaint in writing by completing the attached "Helping You to let us know what you think" leaflet.

If you are still not happy with the outcome, you have the right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliff House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]

If you have any further queries, please contact me either in writing at the above address or by telephone on 01773 841601 and quote your ID No 156/09.

Yours sincerely

Joan Jones

Civic Links and FOI Officer

Encs:

P M Carney, Solicitor
Chief Executive

PO Box 15 Town Hall Ripley
Derbyshire DE5 3XE
Tel: 01773 570222 Fax: 01773 841616
Minicom: 01773 841490
E-Mail: [email address]
Web: www.ambervalley.gov.uk

Caring and Working for Amber Valley

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