Parking Ticket Data

Neil made this Freedom of Information request to Woking Borough Council

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Woking Borough Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

From: Neil

10 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

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
(22 July 2004 till now) 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 regarding
‘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.

Yours faithfully,

Neil Houston

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From: Comments
Woking Borough Council

10 August 2009

Thank you for your e-mail message.

A member of the team will respond to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, if you would like to speak to someone, please call our main switchboard on 01483 755855. Please also be aware that a wide range of information about the Council and its services is available on our website www.woking.gov.uk.

Link to this

From: Comments
Woking Borough Council

11 August 2009

Dear Mr Houston

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the manager of the Parking department for their attention and reply.

Regards

Mrs A Bradford
Customer Services Officer
Local Services

Telephone Number:01483 755855
Fax Number:
WEB: www.woking.gov.uk <http://www.woking.gov.uk/>

________________________________

From: Neil [mailto:[FOI #16700 email]]
Sent: Mon 10/08/2009 22:24
To: Comments
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Parking Ticket Data

Dear Sir or Madam,

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
(22 July 2004 till now) 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 regarding
'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.

Yours faithfully,

Neil Houston

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From: Mick Hunt
Woking Borough Council

3 September 2009

From: Mick Hunt
Sent: 03 September 2009 17:00
To: '[email address]''
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Parking Ticket Data

From: Mick Hunt
Sent: 03 September 2009 16:56
To: '[FOI #16700 email]''
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Parking Ticket Data

From: Mick Hunt
Sent: 03 September 2009 16:54
To: 'mailto:[FOI #16700 email]'
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Parking Ticket Data

Dear Mr Houston

You will see that I have added my response in a red font alongside each of
your questions.

"I hope that you are satisfied with the way in which your request for
information has been dealt with. If not, the Council has decided that any
complaint regarding requests for information that cannot be dealt with
satisfactorily on an informal basis should be dealt with in accordance
with its established complaints procedure. Details of our complaints
procedure may be found at:
[1]http://www.woking.gov.uk/council/about/c... .
Alternatively, I can forward you a paper copy of a leaflet giving details.
I am also happy to discuss any queries that you may have regarding how we
have dealt with your request for information. In addition, you may apply
to the Information Commissioner for a decision whether your request for
information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (although I understand that the
Information Commissioner may decline to become involved if you have not
first exhausted the Council's complaints procedure). The Information
Commissioner may be contacted at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF; tel. 01625 545745: fax. 01625 524510: e-mail.
[2][email address] "

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Neil [mailto:[FOI #16700 email]]
Sent: Mon 10/08/2009 22:24
To: Comments
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Parking Ticket Data

Dear Sir or Madam,

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
(22 July 2004 till now) 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

The information that you have requested is not held by the Council in a
recorded form. Since 22/7/04, three different processing systems have been
used. The first two belonged to our contractor. The current system,
although owned and maintained by the Council, is not set up in such a way
that the information requested can be extracted without fresh software
being written.

2. I would also like to request any information regarding
`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.

Woking Borough Council does not and has never offered any form
of incentive or bonus payments to parking enforcement officers.

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.

Woking Borough Council uses I C P S software provided by Mouchel
Traffic Support. The software is licensed and copyrighted by

Mouchel Traffic Support. You would need to direct the questions regarding
data sets and data fields to them, who may be able to advise you further.

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.

Yours faithfully,

Neil Houston

Mick Hunt
Controlled Parking Manager
Parking Services
Woking Borough Council

P Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you
really need to.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #16700 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/about...

Is [Woking Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Woking Borough Council? If so please
contact us using this form:
[4]http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/contact

If you find WhatDoTheyKnow useful as an FOI officer, please ask
your web manager to suggest us on your organisation's FOI page.
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From: Neil

7 September 2009

Hi,

I would just like to clarify - is it possible that the IT/database
administrator can produce the selected field extract from the
database backend (In my experience, databases often sit on MySQL/MS
SQL/Oracle backends - and the IT/database Administrator of the
system can often extract out information that the systems
'reporting' options don't allow).

If the size of the data extract is too large for it to be
compressed (zipped) and emailed, then I am happy to provide you
with FTP details (the IT contact could transfer the files), or to
receive the data on a CD/DVD. I understand that to produce some
reports in a 'paper' format is not the best for either of us.

Sizewise, the physical number of records will be no issue for me; I
cannot narrow down the request anymore than it already is. (That
being a limited number of fields, by PCN issued, for the 5 year
period).

Obviously if some of the information is not held in the database
(perhaps regarding the payment status etc,) then I would not want
to trouble you by having someone to review the actual case records
(as I understand this would be above and beyond the £450/2.5 day
limit)

Thanks,
Neil

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