Local authority news Councils unaware of biggest changes in local authority parking for a generation Gosport Borough Council starts rollout of 30 EV chargepoints Gosport Borough Council is installing a mixture of 30 fast and rapid EV chargepoints across seven councilowned car parks. The first two chargepoints are now operational within Pebble Beach car park (pictured above and below). Meanwhile, Waltham Forest Council is set to install 48 new chargepoints, amounting to 94 sockets. Following installations in 2021 and 2022, there are now 207 sockets in the councils area. It plans to have a chargepoint in every controlled parking zone by 2025. The council is also preparing for increased use of e-car clubs, and is seeking to invest in initiatives that provide further avenues for affordable and sustainable car usage. A new report, Parking strategies and innovation, from the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), has found that the majority of council decision-makers lack awareness and understanding of potential changes to local authority parking. In 2024, the Department for Transport is expected to move the National Parking Platform (NPP) from its trial phase to full-scale national rollout. If adopted by local authorities, the NPP a publicly owned technology hub that standardises the management and delivery of parking services will revolutionise the way phone parking services are delivered. Although 64 per cent of councils have a parking strategy in place that outlines their development plans, the report identifies significant gaps in understanding about the new model, which will impact the future-proofing of these strategies. The report, which is based on a survey of more than 100 councillors and officers, identifies significant gaps in understanding about the new model: More than a third (36 per cent) of respondents had never heard of the NPP 44 per cent of respondents said they had not heard of the open-market model Almost 80 per cent said they would welcome efforts by the government to explain more about the NPP. The NPP will enable approved phone parking providers to integrate their services and access all available parking inventory in a specific geographical area, without needing to go through the current tender process. The platform is publicly owned and provides the foundation for the open market in parking, which allows multiple phone parking providers to operate alongside each other. This will encourage competition between parking providers and enable motorists to choose their preferred parking app. Currently, 86 per cent of councils working with phone parking providers contract them through a tender process. This limits motorists to one service provider per area. According to the survey, only 30 per cent of councils say the current procurement model is cost- or time-efficient. An open-market model significantly reduces or removes these challenges, while improving service resilience and incentivising innovation. It is already a standard model used across much of Europe and solves the problem of drivers having to download multiple apps. This approach is strongly supported by local authorities: 83 per cent of survey respondents favour downloading only one app. Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive, LGIU, said: New developments and innovations such as the NPP have the potential to transform procurement of parking by opening up the market and giving choice to the individual motorist. In doing so, it could bring significant benefits to local authorities, including cost savings from lowered procurement costs. Our latest report found that a significant number of local authorities in the UK have a strategy gap, which could prevent them from realising the benefits of some of these innovations. We encourage the government to spearhead an awareness-raising initiative around the platform, to ensure that local councils understand the NPP and can make an informed decision on shifting to a parking hub. Read the report at bit.ly/PNAug23LGIU Read more about the NPP at bit.ly/PNJun23NPP 12