Conservative Councillors with free official parking permit but no paid for resident parking permit
Dear Sir or Madam,
In response to FOI number 3645, you advised that 35 Westminster Councillors have a free official parking permit. Of these 35 Councillors, 31 belong to the Conservative party. In FOI number 4148 (being an extension to FOI 3933), you advised that 13 Conservative Councillors have purchased a resident parking permit.
I can therefore assume that 18 Conservative Councillors may have a free official parking permit and have not purchased a resident parking permit to park their car, outside their official working hours.
Can you please advise on what basis these 18 Conservative Councillors park their car in the streets of Westminster outside their official working hours, given that in FOI 3934, you advised that all 60 Councillors reside in Westminster, except two who reside abroad (and are not on the list of Councillors who have a free official parking permit, per FOI 3645)?
Yours faithfully,
Mr Jones
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Request Details: Dear Sir or Madam,
In response to FOI number 3645, you advised that 35 Westminster
Councillors have a free official parking permit. Of these 35
Councillors, 31 belong to the Conservative party. In FOI number
4148 (being an extension to FOI 3933), you advised that 13
Conservative Councillors have purchased a resident parking permit.
I can therefore assume that 18 Conservative Councillors may have a
free official parking permit and have not purchased a resident
parking permit to park their car, outside their official working
hours.
Can you please advise on what basis these 18 Conservative
Councillors park their car in the streets of Westminster outside
their official working hours, given that in FOI 3934, you advised
that all 60 Councillors reside in Westminster, except two who
reside abroad (and are not on the list of Councillors who have a
free official parking permit, per FOI 3645)?
Yours faithfully,
FOI Reference Number: 4311
Target Completion Date: 29/09/2009
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Tel:020 7641 3921
Dear Mr Jones
Please find attached the response to your FOI.
As motorists, Councillors have the same right to use the highway as any
other motorist, both within and outside the hours when parking is
controlled. They are subject to the same statutory procedures if they
contravene parking regulations. How and what arrangements Councillors
have for parking when not on official business is a private matter for
Councillors as motorists and is not the subject of Council record.
Councillors are aware of their responsibility to ensure that permits are
only used for official business, and if misused this affects the integrity
of the Council.
Kind regards
Sarah
Sarah Craddock
Senior Committee and Scrutiny Officer
Department of Legal and Administrative Services
Westminster City Council
15th Floor
City Hall
64 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QP
Tel: 020 7641 2770
Fax: 020 7641 2040
[email address]
[1]www.westminster.gov.uk
References
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1. file://www.westminster.gov.uk
Dear Ms Craddock,
Many thanks for your response.
1. You advise in your response that "Councillors are aware of their responsibility to ensure that permits are only used for official business". Well, obviously not, otherwise the 18 Conservative Councillors who have not bought a resident parking permit in their private capacity would have made sure that they had purchased one to comply with the parking regulations outside their official working hours.
In the light of the above, can you please advise what internal communication, if any, has been sent to Councillors to make them aware that their free official parking permit cannot be used outside their official working hours. Can I please have a copy of any email, letter or memo sent to Westminster Councillors to achieve this.
2. You advise in your response that a (free) official parking permit, if misused, affects the integrity of the Council. Well, 18 Conservative Councillors seem to be misusing their free official parking permit. Can you please advise whether, to date, any correspondence such as email, letter, memo etc has been sent to each of these 18 Conservative Councillors to make them aware that any misuse of their free official parking permit may affect the integrity of the Council. Does the correspondence refer to any action undertaken by the Council should the Councillors continue to use their free official parking permit outside their official working hours?
Yours sincerely,
Mr Jones
Dear Mr Jones
Thank you for your email
Please find attached the Parking Permit Form which includes the Guidance
Notes on how the permit should be used. This form (with the guidance
notes) is sent to the Councillors firstly when they request to apply for
an official permit and again when the permit is issued to them.
Councillors have to renew their official parking permit every year and
each year they are issued with the Guidance Notes twice as stated above.
This requirement is set out in the Council's Code of Governance.
Please note that point 2 of the Guidance Note specifically states:
'An Official Parking Permit does not remove the need to purchase a
Resident's Parking Permit for the Members' Zone of residence (where
applicable), which must be displayed when the vehicle is parked near the
Members Home. Members who need to purchase a Residents Parking Permit
for their private use, should therefore continue to display this permit
in the normal fashion'.
Not all residents, with cars in Westminster need a residents parking
permit as they may, for example, have off street parking or other
arrangements. The Council does not monitor this and has no requirement
to do so.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Craddock
Dear Ms Craddock,
Many thanks for your prompt reply, which is much appreciated.
I have one more question: since the Council is keen to preserve its integrity, by making sure that Councillors use their free official parking permit during their official working hours only, please can you advise what control(s) is/are in place to ensure that Councillors do not use their official parking permit outside of their official working hours.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Jones
Dear Mr Jones
Thank you for your email.
Members official duties are not confined to normal working hours. It
would be very difficult for parking enforcement officers to monitor this
in any practicable way. Members are fully aware of the rules relating
to the use of these permits and any misuse is likely to be regarded as a
breach of the Members Code of Conduct.
Best Wishes
Sarah
Dear Sarah,
Thanks for confirming what I was suspecting. The Council fully trusts its Councillors, although 18 of them have not purchased a resident parking permit to park and seem to be using their free official parking permit 24/7. The fact that none of them has received a single PCN since 1st January 2009 suggests that they have been using their free official parking permit 24/7, otherwise they would have no doubt received at last one PCN outside their official working hours.
How can these Conservative individuals be trusted by their own residents, given that they can't follow the rules of their own council? Perhaps the council should think about introducing controls to avoid the (delibarate) mis-use of the Councillor's free official parking permit.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Jones
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Ben Tweedy left an annotation ()
If they don't want the council's integrity to be affected, then shouldn't they want to monitor how their councilors use their permits?