11 February - Parking penalty targets
At the beginning of the year Bexley ditched Vinci Parking Services
in favour of NSL Services Group which now employs the traffic wardens patrolling our
streets. One of my contributors has today drawn my attention to the situation in other
London boroughs where the same company operates.
Press reports indicate they have warned wardens that they may be disciplined
if they don’t meet the company’s target of a minimum of 0·9 tickets an
hour. Kensington and Chelsea’s councillors are reported to have accused NSL
of “breaking statutory guidelines which ban target setting”. Soon after
the news broke nearby Westminster stripped NSL of their contract.
Here in Bexley we presumably suffer the same treatment as the Royal Borough. It
is perhaps to be expected that a council with a long history of paying scant
regard to parking regulations and which tops the
revenue raising league
tables, should cosy up to a company with similar habits.