And people wonder about how intelligent you need to be to work for the council .....

[GT49er]

Agree it`s profits and the taxing of them that pay for our Public sector employees....

So the public sector (national or local) pays someone a fee to do a job. Some of that money (as little as they can get away with) is spent on getting the job done; what's left is profit, and then a bit of that goes back to the public purse in taxation. Yeh, that really adds up!

 

[soistes]

So if it's cheap and easier for the council - i.e. they don't need to send people to collect the cash - why do I have to pay a service charge and why haven't the parking charges dropped ?

I'm not sure, to be honest, but I would guess that:
1) the service charge goes to the private company which administers the service on behalf of the council, processes the payment, designs the app, staffs the call centre for those who can't cope with the app etc. Either way, I happily paid the extra 10p or whatever it is, for the convenience of not having to d*ck around with pockets full of pound coins.
2) the parking charges haven't gone down because any financial gain from moving to this service is being ploughed back into helping offset the massive cuts which are being made to other essential services delivered by the local authority. If so, I'm glad about that.
3) the Council continues to take the view that it will a charge a price for parking which helps to further discourage excessive car use in what is a town which is massively over-clogged with vehicles and heavily polluted. If so, I'm glad about that too. The price of parking does make me think twice about using my car in central Brighton, and that's probably a good thing.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Probably because then Tories have cut their grant but the residents still expect the same levels of service.

Parking revenue makes a 'profit' each year and as we are constantly told, that spare revenue can only be spent on transport stuff so the cuts will have no effect on this issue.

 

[narly101]

Shows how thick people are, they want austerity and spending cuts but don't like the results

Utter tosh. Efficiencies can make a service better, and reduce costs.

 

[Mileoakman]

Parking revenue makes a 'profit' each year and as we are constantly told, that spare revenue can only be spent on transport stuff so the cuts will have no effect on this issue.

Not true. While parking revenues have to be used for other transport things, ( such as bus subsidies, road humps, Over 65's passes, other traffic measures, etc, etc), the amount the Council used to receive from Central Government towards these services has been cut. Therefore the parking revenues they receive have to go towards an ever increasing deficit to support these other items.

 

[studio150]

While I understand your frustration with the Council at least half of your rant is against a private company that is nothing to do with them. However as you repeatedly take every opportunity to remind us of your views on the Public Sector perhaps the fact that this slipped your mind is understandable.

But the company would have been appointed by the council and presumably would have evidenced a lwvwl of quality which the council would of set

 

[Mileoakman]

But the company would have been appointed by the council and presumably would have evidenced a lwvwl of quality which the council would of set

True but its still the private sector company not performing rather than the Council.

Anyway if the company is underperforming there will be penalties and remedies open to the Council in the contract to rectify the situation.

 

[studio150]

True but its still the private sector company not performing rather than the Council.

Anyway if the company is underperforming there will be penalties and remedies open to the Council in the contract to rectify the situation.

So why did the council accept a fee for a receipt when if paying by money the ticket doubled as a receipt. It would seem the council have no eye for detail and are happy to sign up to contracts which provide a poorer service and cost the users more.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

right there is a hard stop. they've failed. you cant expect a phone to be registered to a single number plate, there's no reason to and every reason to expect someone to drive multiple vehicles (my car, missus car, work car, new car, courtesy car...). therefore the whole system is a design fail.

But you CAN register multiple number plates on the Brighton & Hove system. Having just changed cars, I can also report that the system copes with that very easily as well.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

£4 odd for a couple miles? It's almost as big a rip off as parking.

It's £2 for a single journey anywhere between Dukes Mound, Brighton University (Moulsecoomb campus) and Hove Town Hall.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It's £2 for a single journey anywhere between Dukes Mound, Brighton University (Moulsecoomb campus) and Hove Town Hall.

But I also would have had to get back !