Parking award for Devon County Council

Devon County Council has won a top accolade at the country’s most prestigious awards ceremony for the parking industry.

The authority picked up the “best practice reporting: Customer Service award” at the annual PATROL PARC (Parking Annual Report Awards by Councils) Awards held in London.

PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) represents over 300 local authorities in England, outside of London, and Wales who undertake civil enforcement.

The awards ceremony, which was launched in 2009, honours the local authorities who have published the best reports on their parking services, with the aim of sharing and promoting best practice in civil enforcement reporting.

The award won by Devon recognises excellence in customer service, where authorities have reported on steps taken to proactively engage with their community. In particular, Devon’s online reporting tools were highlighted for enabling the public to identify concerns around pavement parking and abuse of residents parking permits, and the County Council’s approach to transparency and “open” data was also praised.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Management, who has also been elected as the new Chairman of PATROL, said: “This award is more national recognition for our parking team and is very well deserved. It highlights the excellent and consistent service being delivered across Devon. It's also a great honour to have been elected as Chair of PATROL, having represented Devon on the Executive for 10 years and serving as Vice Chair for the last four years. PATROL is working hard doing on the issue of pavement parking, giving evidence to the select committee with the aim of finding a solution that will give councils adequate powers to deal with this."

At his first official meeting as Chairman of the Committee, Councillor Hughes said: "On behalf of its member authorities, PATROL has a vital role to play in traffic policy discussions at national level. With fairness, transparency and balance at its core, PATROL combines the experiences of local authorities facing the demands of traffic management with the voice of the public.

"PATROL’s principal role is to provide access to independent adjudication, delivered through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The tribunal’s adjudicators decide appeals against penalties issued for parking, bus lanes and, in Wales, moving traffic appeals. Most recently the tribunal has moved into the area of environmental appeals with the enforcement against littering from vehicles already underway, and in 2020 the tribunal is forecast to hear appeals against penalties issued for failing to pay the charge in clean air zones in towns and cities outside London.”

Devon County Council also received the best practice reporting in customer service award in 2017, and last year won the award for Best Overall Report at the PATROL PARC Awards.