Issue - meetings

To update members on the current progress made by FDC and Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) in respect of the CPE implementation works, following the previous Cabinet update paper on 17 July 2023.

Members considered the On and Off-Street Parking Enforcement Update report presented by Councillor Mrs French.

Councillor Hoy said that as a county councillor she had recently received an update from Highways and Transport which said civil parking enforcement was coming to Fenland in February and the costs had been negotiated, which she found to be a bit over enthusiastic compared to the information in the report presented by Councillor Mrs French.

Councillor Boden said there are unresolved issues that are fundamental to the working of any scheme such as this and the Council is not going to be able to move forward with civil parking enforcement unless at the very minimum the lines and signs, once upgraded, are maintained by the County Council. Without that the Council will not be able to enforce legally and this is one area that Cambridgeshire County Council will not give a guarantee about. Councillor Boden added that it is an abysmal position to be in, and he hopes that County see sense. Councillor Mrs French said hopefully this will happen in 2025 under a new administration. Councillor Boden commented that fortunately the CPCA have agreed to make their funding available for this until 2025 so it provides an opportunity for a change of policy possibly after the county council elections.

Councillor Murphy said the local councils contributed £100k each towards this but if it does not happen will they get their money back and with interest? Councillor Boden responded that the money relates to the £100k given to each town through the CPCA Market Towns Fund and therefore is ultimately government money. It is good that the CPCA did agree that this money could be held over until 2025 when it may be possible to move forward with civil parking enforcement following a change of administration at County Council. However, if unable to move forward it may depend on what happens at the Mayoral election in 2025 but regardless of the result of any elections, the prospect of gaining interest on the money is wishful thinking.

Councillor Boden referred to the report recommendation to decide how the project shortfall will be funded and suggested that one or more of the Council’s reserves should be used subject to the agreement of the S151 Officer and the Portfolio Holder for Finance. This was agreed.

Proposed by Councillor Mrs French, seconded by Councillor Boden and AGREED to:

a)    Note progress made to date by FDC and CCC in relation to moving the implementation of CPE forward.

b)   Note the predicted increase in the overall project delivery cost.

c)    Fund the project shortfall through one or more of Council reserves subject to the Agreement of the S151 Officer and the Portfolio Holder for Finance.

d)   Delegate to the Leader and Deputy Leader the ability to identify, take advice on as necessary and negotiate the red flag issues arising from the draft agency and service level agreements and to report back to Cabinet if agreement cannot be reached.