Sue McQuinn says…

Meeting ParkingEye/ULHT 12/04/19 Update – Part 2

I’ve kept this separate as it covers rather different areas from Part 1

PARKINGEYE CONTRACT

The contract ULHT has with ParkingEye gives all the income from payment machines to ULHT. The only income ParkingEye gets, as I understand it, is from PCNs.
Govuk guidelines state “Contracts should not be let out on any basis that incentivises additional charges, eg ‘income from parking charge notices only.’”
ULHT says this means that the contract shouldn’t incentivise ULHT by giving them (ULHT) income from PCNs.
My interpretation is that Govuk guidelines are saying no party to the contract should be incentivised to issue PCNs. How can ParkingEye not be, given that PCNs are their only source of income? 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I have asked to see a copy of the contract via an FOI request & it’s currently with their legal dept. for a decision. 
I asked if they had checked that ParkingEye staff were not incentivised to reject appeals – they said they had been told ‘no.’ Excuse my scepticism but ParkingEye would say that wouldn’t they? 
I don’t have an legal expertise so I’ve asked someone with a legal background to take a look at the wording of the guidelines to see what they think.
If it seems that ULHT have ignored the guidelines (and they are only that), I’ve been advised by the BPA (BRITISH PARKING ASSOCIATION ) my next option would be to take it to the Health Dept / Health Secretary. 

ANPR IMPACT ASSESSMENT

BPA guide to Parking Management on Private Land gives guidelines on “Assessing the Impact of ANPR on your Parking Operation” including where a system is operated by or on behalf of a public authority (such as a university or hospital with a private car park).

When I asked about this, I was rather surprised by their reaction. There was some shoulder shrugging & muttering about it being ‘private land.’ 

When I asked if a copy could be made available, Ian said ‘I will ask.’ This morning I’ve sent a copy of the BPA guidelines and reminded him about my request. 

DDA APPROVAL & CERTIFICATION OF PAYMENT MACHINES

I asked if the Glyde machines used by ParkingEye were DDA compliant. They said they had been told they were. I asked if I could see a copy of the approval/certification document. I was told that, as far as they were aware, these aren’t issued. I need to do further investigation on this but I’d appreciate any information from anyone who is familiar with the area. 

PLEASE KEEP SIGNING AND SHARING THE PETITION – IT’S STILL AN IMPORTANT REFLECTION OF HOW PEOPLE VIEW THIS SYSTEM. 

http://chng.it/H7CQvZzf4M

Sue McQuinn says…

ParkingEye/ULHT meeting 12/4/19 – Update Part 1

Unfortunately the meeting Frank & I had with Paul Boocock and Ian Hayden (Estates & Facilities) was cut short by an emergency issue they had to take care of. This was disappointing but they have details of all the areas I wanted to cover & promised to get back to me. 

This is what we did manage to get to:

PCNs – It was agreed that most(but not all) of the PCNs now being issued erroneously are due to information not being collected correctly & input in a timely manner. To help address this a new voucher system is being introduced for concessions that entitled people to free/reduced fee parking. Instead of relying on a member of staff taking down your registration no. and adding it to the system at a later date, a voucher will be given for the recipient to use at the payment kiosks. 
We were told PCN issues for volunteers had been resolved. 

PCN Appeals – We were told, once again, that not being to contact parking management companies by phone to appeal or discuss an ongoing appeal is “the industry norm.” That may be the case but it doesn’t make it right!

Day Rate – A day rate option will be made available at the payment machines, for those using the site more than once on the same day. 

Signage – It was agreed that signage at the entrances to the Grantham site wasn’t adequate & additional signs would be introduced as per BPA Guidelines.

Kiosks – There is now one kiosk inside at Lincoln & Grantham. We were told it isn’t logistically possible at Pilgrim. Some of the kiosks are being relocated to make them more user friendly. New, adjustable height machines will be trialled, at Lincoln initially. Kiosks are checked daily for problems. 

Change Vouchers – The machines should say when no change is available but where a voucher is issued it is redeemable at ANY reception or Facilities at the site it was issued. (Despite what it may say on the vouchers!)

Kingfisher Unit  – More and clearer information re free parking here will be instituted (Signs etc). 

Maps – The hard  copy site maps are only updated once a year. The new ones should include kiosk locations. The very out of date Grantham site map on available on the web site will be updated to include kiosks ASAP.

They agreed to consider:
*Increasing collection/drop off period to 30mins.
*Allowing Blue Badge registration to be done by email. I have given examples of where this happens at other Trusts
*Concessionary fees for overrunning clinics. Examples given.
*Changing charging bands
*Registration of Care Home Mini Buses, so they can stay to collection patients following clinics. Ian Hayden will consider formal applications. 
* Requested information on the number of PCNs issued/cancelled since the system was introduced. Told to ask ParkingEye.

What we didn’t have time to talk about, but are included in the documentation I left with them:
*Additional concessions as per gov guidelines 
*Suggested a leaflet to be included with all appointments & available in areas where people are likely to arrive without appointments – to include full details of the parking systems & changes, how BB registration works, where it can be done at each site, all concessions & how to obtain then, site map with kiosks marked.
*Full Car Park issues, parking on grass etc.
*Payment M/C hygiene
*Feedback questionnaire – on website & in hospitals. At the previous meeting, in Feb., it was deemed to be too soon, things needed to settle down. Don’t think they can use that excuse now. 

Apologies if I missed anything! Part 2 of this update to follow.

Kara Krystina Harrison says…

Hi, my son’s very dear friend has just been diagnosed with cancer. His name is Charlie he is 14years old, his condition is called ALCL (Anaplastic large cell lymphoma) it is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

It is more common in children and young adults.ALCL develops when white blood cells called T-cells become abnormal.

These usually build up in the lymph nodes but can affect other parts of the the body.Charlie is also fighting an infection along with the cancer so his body is fighting two battles.

This all happened within 3/4 weeks,weight loss and a large lump in the groin.Please please if anyone finds a lump there unsure of please act immediately,

Charlie’s family highly stressed this to all young lads especially.

Don’t be embarrassed get it checked.

Charlie started his chemotherapy couple of days ago and will spend the next 6months in hospital.

I’d like to raise enough money for a family holiday for this lovely family when Charlie is well.

Anything is appreciated please help this young man.

Thankyou so much xxx

Go to….

https://www.gofundme.com/d7hx9e-the-charlie-fund

Susan says…

Fly tippers out last night at top of St Vincent’s. This wasn’t there yesterday morning when I walked my dogs

Anon says…

Hi. Just been to Dysart park, not a soul in sight but these were left dumped in the play area.

Ian Mutch says…

I don’t suppose Asda management will answer … but here’s a question for them..

They make a big statement when they lower fuel prices every other month…. but can they explain why fuel has gone up three times this week???

Eddie says…

Another beautiful tree bites the dust in Springfield Road. It dates from the late 1960s and the American Can factory.

I witnessed a tree fall on a car on London Road (level with Carpetright store) on Grantham Olympic Torch day. The tree was never replaced.

Was the beautiful  mature Cherry tree felled in Wyndham Park for the new information building ever replaced ?

I wonder if the tree felled on Springfield road today will be replaced.

Fortem Solutions home improvements are looking for 2 x work experience students that may be considering going into the building trade including joinery.

If you are a school leaver and going to college in September and would like a week or 2 on a site to get experience of what you will be doing once qualified then please send your details.

We can offer you experience in the following:

Labourers
Joiners
Roofers
Wall finish

The work is all Local to Grantham.

Apply to   paula.miller@fortem.co.uk

Siobhan Sands says

So what’s going on with all the Leeds & Liverpool football fans at an NG postcode?

They are taking priority over a Forest game.

Understand it’s only a mid-table game but come on.

I bet they’d sideline a Lincoln City game as well in favour of all these plastic fans!

Sue McQuinn says…

Gathering together information for the meeting on Friday. Apart from the fact most people would like ParkingEye to disappear from ULHT car parks, are there any other points you’d like me to raise? 

I’ve a file full of issues but if anyone has anything they think I might not have picked up on, please comment below or PM me.

Can’t believe how many have signed the petition in the past week or so – this is clearly still a contentious issue.

Sign & share to all your local groups. Thank you!

http://chng.it/MZDqtBd98H

Leah Phillips says…

If you’re affected by the high-pitched noise coming from @Sainsburys in Grantham,, residents are meeting outside the Lord Harrowby on Dudley Rd at 7pm.

Let’s get the issue resolved for good this year.

Sarah says…

When will the council sort this obstruction out on Londonthorpe Lane.

It has been at least six weeks and you have to walk on the road to pass it, or are they waiting for someone to get hit by a car first then it qualifies to go on the ‘to do’ list?

Gerald says…

The other day, Grantham Matters published the full list of people standing for the SKDC elections on May 2^nd.

Of the 56 seats, only two are not contested.

The current make-up: Conservative 44, Independent 4, SK Independents 4, Labour 3, Unaligned 1.

This includes the deputy leader, who happens to be Nick Boles’ agent, so it looks like a Tory stitch up.

When the list was published originally, many commented they would not bother to vote.

Well you must. Otherwise what we have is a dictatorship with the councillors just laughing at the public as their town goes down the pan.

It is time for a change and as long as they feel they cannot lose – even the loss of 16 seats leaves them in charge – they will do just as they like.

We also have an MP who was elected solely because he was a Tory. Now he isn’t.

So much for democracy

We’ve been sent a couple of photos today, firstly of tractors then of motorcycles, making their way to Belvoir Castle.

So what’s going on?