Talks over funding parking enforcement in Telford and Wrekin

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies says the authority already has to make £7 million in savings next year and it would add to financial pressures if it chooses to apply for CPE powers.

Police and crime commissioner John Campion has already offered to give the council up to £150,000 if it takes on new parking powers.

But Councillor Davies says he has now spoken to Mr Campion to see if he would be prepared to offer more funding.

Councillor Davies said: "At last November’s meeting, the finance and enterprise scrutiny committee was told that, due to capacity issues, the Department for Transport would not be able to process any new application for civil parking enforcement until the summer of 2019.

"Last month I met the police and crime commissioner (PCC) to discuss the possibility of additional transitional funding in order for the council to consider applying for the powers.

"It was a positive meeting in which the PCC requested further information for consideration.

"A further letter with that additional information will be sent to the PCC’s office shortly.

"During the meeting I made it clear that any adoption of these powers must not put an extra financial burden on local taxpayers, at a time when the council is having to make £7 million in savings next year, on top of the £110 million already saved from its budget since 2010 due to cuts in government funding.

"I have further meetings planned with Mr Campion shortly to discuss this and other issues.”

At the moment, Telford is one of only a handful of councils across the country that does not have CPE powers.

The job of issuing tickets to motorists in Telford is currently in the hands of police or community officers.

But the council could apply for a CPE order, which would enable it to target problem areas, potentially increasing the number of tickets issued to motorists each year.

Superintendent Tom Harding, the man in charge of policing in Telford, told councillors last November that police were working with limited resources and had to prioritise incidents where there was threat, harm or risk involved.

He said police officers were not being used for parking enforcement so the force would not be making any savings by the council taking over parking enforcement powers.

Supt Harding said there were only five PCSOs with these powers and the force had only been able to deal with limited parking issues, mainly around schools.

He said that any money received through parking fines would currently go to central government, but if the council takes on the powers the authority could keep the income.