Question:
At a recent meeting with a Senior Highways Officer, the existence of a Business Case for increased parking charges was questioned. The answer was ‘The business case is simply the document that went to Executive – there is no further document and no further analysis’. We have repeatedly asked for copies of the Business Case with nothing being provided. If this Officer’s comments are true, then it is understandable that the Executive Member could not provide it as it does not exist.
If this is true, this is a massive dereliction of duty to raise charges without any formal justification behind the proposals. Where are the answers to these questions?
. what is the impact of increases in a period of economic downturn?
. what is the impact of increases on local traders?
. what is plan B if the Council gets the changes wrong, affecting business viability?
. Does the possible revenue benefit outweigh the likely disadvantage to the retail sector already affected by the economic downturn?
The easy answer to all these questions could be resolved instantly by publishing the Business Case. Will you publish the Business Case behind these increases? A simple yes or no answer will suffice.
Minutes:
Question
At a recent meeting with a Senior Highways Officer, the existence of a Business Case for increased parking charges was questioned. The answer was ‘The business case is simply the document that went to executive – there is no further document and no further analysis’. We have repeatedly asked for copies of the Business Case with nothing being provided. If this Officer’s comments are true, then it is understandable that the Executive Member could not provide it as it does not exist.
If this is true, this is a massive dereliction of duty to raise charges without any formal justification behind the proposals. Where are the answers to these questions?
. what is the impact of increases in a period of economic downturn?
. what is the impact of increases on local traders?
. what is plan B if the Council gets the changes wrong, affecting business viability?
. Does the possible revenue benefit outweigh the likely disadvantage to the retail sector already affected by the economic downturn?
The easy answer to all these questions could be resolved instantly by publishing the Business Case. Will you publish the Business Case behind these increases? A simple yes or no answer will suffice.
Answer:
Thank you, Keith, for your question.
As was explained to you by the Officer, the business case was the document that went to the Executive. In summary, there is a forecast shortfall in income and we need to address that.
As I presented to the Executive on 22nd November 2022, we considered many areas and these included
• Taking funding from the reserves
• Closing the park and rides
• Taking funding from the revenue highways budget
• Taking funding from other service area
All of these had significant implications; therefore, the only option was income generation from existing off-street car parks as the cupboard was bare of any other funding.
Options were explored to do nothing, cover the lower end of the budget shortfall or towards the higher end. The Executive agreed with the lower increased charges with an estimated forecast of £540,000 additional income.
The calculations made were based on known ticket sales. Any forecast is an estimate, as no ticket sales are guaranteed, and any number of changes could arise which could affect income
We have considered all the points made about the potential impact, which is why the final version of the changes was different to the first version.
Car parking income is constantly monitored, so if the impact of the changes is not as anticipated, of course they will be reviewed.
Supplementary Question:
So what you are actually saying is all my questions in the question have been answered in the business case? Now if that is the case why will you not publish it? It is no good just keep on standing up here and providing answers. Publish it, publish it. Residents want to see answers to all these questions. You appear to have them, so why will you not put it into the public domain? Publish it and be damned.
Supplementary Answer:
As I said already the Executive report is a summary of the work that we did. The calculations are based on ticket sales and there is no guarantee. I would also like to say that the Conservatives proposed in the draft MTFP, increases in car parking charges, in November 2021, with a forecast income of £500,000, but did not progress it. If they had done that then the situation may have been different now for the car parking service with a shortfall that we now face. Therefore, this Administration has had to take the very difficult decision to increase charges to cover the shortfall in income forecast. Was there a business case with what you had done previously? I think not.