There is a risk that councils will be unable to continue enforcing parking next April, as a major IT supplier warns that ‘some will struggle to update their systems in time’.
Imperial Business Systems warned authorities not to leave it too late to make the necessary changes to parking enforcement software that the Traffic Management Act requires by 1 April 2008, including new ways of issuing tickets, and at least two penalty levels.
Some parking managers have been caught off guard by the Government’s announcement that the finalised operational guidance will only be available three months before the deadline, not six as first indicated.
Ashley Bijster, IBS sales director, warned that errors could occur during the overhauling of systems, due to the complexity of the changes in the new regulations and operational guidance. ‘Manual intervention is likely to be required, given the complex changes to the software progression paths demanded by the new legislation,’ she said.
There would be one process for penalty charge notices attached to vehicles; a second for PCNs for motorists driving away; and a third for CCTV camera-issued PCNs. ‘You need to ring-fence your staff now, lock them in a room, and thoroughly test your new parking management system.'
Otherwise, there might not be time to go back to the supplier to request changes. Bijster also urged parking managers to talk to third-party suppliers as soon as possible. Payment systems, for example, will need to know which parking management system to send a processed payment to, or ‘you could have the bailiffs being sent out for a paid PCN, because your new system doesn’t know they’ve paid’.
The
British Parking Association has also expressed concerns over the ‘challenging’ timetable for Government’s plans for a ‘big bang’ introduction for the new civil parking enforcement system.
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