Parking Services Annual Report 2019-2020
Source: data.gov.uk (2024-02-23)

Bristol City Council Parking Account. A breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account. The breakdown of income must include details of revenue collected from on-street parking, off-street parking and Penalty Charge Notices

A breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account.

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Parking Services 
Annual Report 
2019 to 2020 
 
 

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Contents 
 
Welcome ............................................................................................................................................ 3 
Joint Local Transport Plan 4 .......................................................................................................... 3 
Metrobus ........................................................................................................................................ 3 
Neighbourhood partnerships .......................................................................................................... 4 
Car Parking ........................................................................................................................................ 4 
Enforcement....................................................................................................................................... 5 
Permit and Concessionary Parking ................................................................................................... 7 
2019 to 2020 ...................................................................................................................................... 7 
Financial Statements ......................................................................................................................... 8 
Contact information and useful links ............................................................................................... 12 
Parking Services .......................................................................................................................... 12 
Payment Facilities ........................................................................................................................ 12 
Other useful numbers................................................................................................................... 12 
Other organisations ...................................................................................................................... 13 
 
 
 
 

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Welcome 
 
At Bristol City Council we aim to ensure Bristol remains a great place to live, work, 
study and visit. It’s our duty to manage the road and traffic network through various 
means, such as the provision of on and off-street parking, ensuring primary routes are 
kept free of obstructions through effective enforcement and providing efficient and 
attractive sustainable methods of travel. The following report will demonstrate the role 
that Parking Services plays in meeting these demands. 
To achieve these goals, we work in conjunction with: 
 
The Joint Local Transport Plan 4  
 
The Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (JLTP4) – led by the West of England Combined Authority, 
working with Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire 
councils – sets out the vision for transport up to 2036. It shows how we will aim to achieve a 
well-connected sustainable transport network that works for residents across the region; a 
network that offers greater, realistic travel choices and makes walking, cycling and public 
transport the natural way to travel.  
More information about the JLTP4 can be found on the Council’s website: 
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/streets-travel/transport-plans-and-projects/joint-local-
transport-plan-2020-to-2036  
 
Metrobus  
 
Metrobus is a new, modern public transport service for the greater Bristol area. MetroBus is part 
of the West of England’s plan to: 
Reduce carbon emissions 
Support sustainable economic growth 
Promote accessibility 
Contribute to better safety, security and health 
Improve quality of life and create a healthy natural environment 
Improvements to rail via MetroWest 
More information about Metrobus can be found on the TravelWest website 
https://travelwest.info/metrobus  

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Neighbourhood partnerships 
 
Parking Services regularly attends Neighbourhood Forums meetings where staff answer 
specific questions from local residents and discuss the enforcement activity that takes place in 
their neighbourhood.  
  
Car Parking 
 
Throughout Bristol we have several open-air car parks, as well as 3 multi-story car parks. The 
multi-story car parks, Trenchard Street, West End and Temple Gate hold over 2,000 spaces 
between them, with a further 1,900 spaces in 37 car parks across the city. On top of this, we 
have 3 park and ride car parks, situated in Brislington, Long Ashton and the Portway.  
We offer season tickets at many of our car parks. Specific information for each car park, 
including their tariffs (if applicable) can be found on our website: 
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/parking/where-to-park-in-bristol  
Within a selection of our car parks, we have introduced electric charging points in partnership 
with The Energy Service. Detailed information about the charging points available throughout 
Bristol can be found on our website: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/parking/where-to-park-
in-bristol/electric-vehicle-parking  
 
 
 
 

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Enforcement 
 
The main objectives of Parking Services are to keep our roads safe and allow traffic to flow 
freely across the city. We try to achieve these objectives through partnership working and 
education. Our officers attend ‘Days of Action’ where we provide a presence to raise awareness 
with the police. We often take part in Neighbourhood Forums too. Where new restrictions are 
implemented (bus lanes, new Residents Parking Schemes etc) we will complete a period of 
‘soft enforcement’ where warning notices are issued rather than live penalties. 
There are times where we need to issue Penalty Charge Notices to vehicles who contravene 
the restrictions in place. When we do, our enforcement is carried out in a variety of ways; we 
have on foot patrols, CCTV enforcement of bus lanes and the use of a camera car. The pie 
chart below shows the most common reasons why PCN are issued: 
 
 
Parking PCNs are broken into higher and lower categories, based on the severity of the 
infringement. In 2019 to 2020 we issued: 
 
ON STREET 
PCNS 
OFF STREET 
PCNS 
HIGHER RATE 
103,431 
645 
LOWER RATE 
39,121 
2,588 
TOTAL 
142,552 
3,233 
 
Once a PCN is issued, and you believe it was incorrectly issued or there is sufficient mitigation, 
there is a statutory appeals procedure in place. Overall, 13,761 (9.4%) of all PCNs were 
cancelled following a challenge/representation being made. More information about the appeals 
procedure can be found on Patrol’s website here: https://www.patrol-uk.info/i-have-received-a-
pcn/  
20,741 
13,381 
32,632 
21,332 
10,078 
47,624 
Contraventions in 2019 to 2020
Yellow Line Contravention
Loading/Unloading Contravention
P&D Contravention
Resident Bays
Other Contraventions
Bus Lane Contravention

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Overall, 111,261 (76.3%) of all PCNs issued in 2019 to 2020 were paid, of which 88,006 
(79.1%) of these were paid at the discounted rate. That equates to 60.4% of all PCNs issued at 
the discounted rate. 
 
 
15,381 (9.9% of all PCNs) PCNs were written off. This can be for many reasons, such as errors 
by the Civil Enforcement Officer or the vehicle owner being untraceable. 
The Council doesn’t clamp vehicles, however there are times where vehicle removal is required. 
In 2019 to 2020 we removed 422 vehicles in relation to PCNs. 
 
 
10,423 
3,338 
13,761 
11,497 
3,738 
15,235 
 -
 2,000
 4,000
 6,000
 8,000
 10,000
 12,000
 14,000
 16,000
Parking
Bus Lane
Overall
Appeals Outcome in 2019 to 2020
Accepted
Rejected
77%
83%
15%
7%
3%
4%
5%
6%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Parking
Bus Lane
PCN Payments by stage
Discounted rate
Full rate
Charge  Certificate
TEC

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Permit and Concessionary Parking 
 
Following the original 3 Resident Parking Schemes (RPS), we introduced 9 further RPS 
schemes to provide residents with parking, encourage public transport and use more 
sustainable methods of commuting.  
In November our Residents Permit Scheme became digitised as we introduced MiPermit. By 
introducing virtual permits, we have been able to cut improve the council’s environmental 
impact, minimising the amount of paper permits and scratch cards in circulation. 
For more specific information for each of our RPS areas, please visit www.bristol.gov.uk/rps  
Permits in our RPS areas aren’t the only type of parking concessions that we offer. We have a 
dedicated Blue Badge department who helped almost 6,500 citizens successfully apply for a 
new badge or renew their existing badge.  
 
2019 to 2020 
 
Several events that will have a lasting impact on how Parking Services operates going forward 
occurred during the year. The first to get underway were the structural repairs taking place at 
Temple Gate multi storey car park. We anticipate this project to continue into 2020-21 as we 
look to maintain the long-term future of the car park. 
One of the big announcements is the forth coming introduction of the Clean Air Zone within 
Bristol’s city centre. This is currently at the planning phase, although it’s expected that Parking 
Services will have a major role in its implementation in 2022. 
We took some major steps into bringing our technology into the modern era by upgrading our 
Officers handheld devices and cameras to all-in-one smartphones. We also introduced cashless 
payment terminals at Trenchard Street and West End car parks. 
Maintenance of our pay and display machines and car parks moved forward too, as we 
introduced use of the Confirm system. This software enables us to record the status of the 
machines and car park conditions in real time. 
Finally, as the year drew to a close, we started to see the on-set of the Covid-19 pandemic, 
which will be sure to affect operations in 2020-21. 

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Financial Statements 
 
Income from Decriminalised Parking Enforcement is known as Section 55 income and, under 
the terms of DPE, must be spent on Transport related activities.  Income from other Parking 
Services’ activities (such as car parking income) is not restricted in this way. 
 
The following table shows the breakdown of Parking Services’ Section 55 income and 
expenditure and also shows how the resulting surplus has been spent. 
 
Parking Enforcement Section 55 Statement 2019 to 2020 
Income 
Expenditure 
General Income 
£1,199,000 
PCN Income 
£3,143,000 
On Street Pay and Display Income 
£6,767,000  
RPS Permits 
£1,852,000 
Total Income 
£12,961,000 
 
 
 
Employees 
 £3,398,000 
Premises Costs 
 £26,000 
Supplies and Services 
  £537,000 
Third Party Payments 
£743,000 
Transport 
£116,000 
Support Services 
£176,000 
Capital Financing Costs1 
£1,203,000 
Total Expenditure 
£6,199,000  
Operating Surplus 
£6,762,000 
Overhead Allocation 
 £565,000 
Net Surplus before transfer to reserves 
£6,197,000 
 
 
 
Transfer to reserves 
£0 
Net Surplus after transfer to reserves 
£6,197,000 
This surplus has contributed to expenditure on the following allowable items: 
Gross Expenditure on Allowable Items 
Provision of Off-Street Parking2 
 
£3,969,000 
Concessionary Fares 
£6,636,000 
Park & Ride Schemes 
£685,000 
Highways and Traffic Signals and Lighting 
 £2,876,000 
Total Allowable Expenditure 
£14,166,000 
Excess of Allowable Expenditure Over Net Surplus 
 £7,968,000 
1 Charges have been done as a budget reduction. 
2 Represents gross off-street expenditure 
Income from Bus Lane Enforcement under the Transport Act 2000 must also be accounted for 
separately and any surplus income must also be spent on Transport related activities (Statutory 
Instrument 2005 No. 2757, Part 7, Regulation 36).   

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The following table shows the breakdown of Parking Services’ Bus Lane Enforcement income 
and expenditure and also shows how the resulting surplus has been spent. 
 
 
 

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Bus Lane Enforcement - Regulation 36 Statement 2019 to 2020 
Income 
Expenditure 
Bus Lane Account (10275) 
Income 
£1,412,000 
Expenditure 
Employees 
 
£222,000  
Premises 
 
£0  
Transport 
 
£0 
Supplies and Services 
 
£205,000 
Third Party Payments 
 
£0  
 
 
£427,000 
 
 
 
Operating Surplus 
£985,000 
 
 
 
Overheads (share of parking overheads) 
£25,000 
Net Surplus before transfer to reserves 
£960,000 
 
 
 
 
Transfer to Reserves 
 
£0 
Net Surplus after transfer to reserves 
£960,000 
 
This surplus has contributed to expenditure on the following allowable items: 
Passenger Transport - Services 
 
£2,741,000 
Concessionary Fares 
 
£6,935,000 
Total Allowable Expenditure 
£9,676,000  
Excess of Allowable Expenditure over Net Surplus: 
£8,716,000 

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Contact information and useful links 
 
 
Parking Services 
 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx or  
xxx@xxx.xx   
Web: www.bristol.gov.uk/parking  
 
Post:  
Parking Services 
Bristol City Council 
PO Box 3176 
Bristol 
BS3 9FS 
 
General telephone enquiries: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Fax: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
General telephone enquiries: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
PCN enquiries: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
Bay suspensions: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
To report an illegally parked vehicle: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
 
Payment Facilities: 
Automated Telephone Payment Line: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Online Payment facility: www.bristol.gov.uk/pay 
In person at the Citizen Service Point: www.bristol.gov.uk/csp 
 
Other useful numbers 
 
Abandoned vehicles: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
Blue Badges, Disabled Bays, Residents’ Parking Permits and Concessionary Travel 
Cards: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
Car pound: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 

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Park & Ride information: www.travelbristol.org/parkandride  
 
MetroBus: metrobusbristol.co.uk 
 
Residents’ Parking Schemes: www.bristol.gov.uk/rps  
 
 
Other organisations 
 
DVLA: www.dft.gov.uk/dvla 
 
Traffic Penalty Tribunal: www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk 
 
Patrol (for parking enforcement info): www.patrol-uk.info 
 
British Parking Association: www.britishparking.co.uk 
 
Security Industry Authority: www.the-sia.org.uk 
 
Information on Public Services Source West (electric vehicle charging): 
http://www.sourcewest.info/