NSL secures parking deal – again - City Hall finally agrees £40million contract

Published: 02 July 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

CITY Hall has awarded its £40million parking contract, opting to stick with NSL Services.

The announcement marks the end of a five-month debacle which saw a different firm – Mouchel – all but sworn into the job before a legal blunder and two separate High Court challenges sent the council back to the drawing board.

Parking bosses said the four-year deal signals a new dawn for motorists with the push for tickets replaced by a softer, “customer-friendly” approach.

But already there are signs the decision may not bring change. NSL Services have run parking in Westminster since 2002, and in that time have become reportedly unpopular with some motorists for what they see as a punitive ticketing policy.  

Council documents reveal the £20million black hole in the council’s finances has largely been caused by a £19million shortfall “attrib­utable to the parking service”. Tim Kaufman, author of the parking website nutsville.com, said: “Worryingly for motorists this shiny new enforcement contract could be used to start issuing a lot more parking tickets.”

The finer details of the contract, which cost the council £10million less than the previous time around, are not available, but City Hall’s new parking chief Lee Rowley, said it was the first of its kind in the country. 

“This new contract is a very good deal for local taxpayers with multi-million pound savings over the next four years,” he said. “In addition, we will be the first local authority in the country to start working on compliance levels in an attempt to get motorists to park better and stop inconveniencing the vast majority of motorists in the city who park correctly.

“We have pioneered new parking policies to make it easier for motorists to park in Westminster and we look forward to delivering this new approach to managing our streets.”

Mark Underwood, chief executive of NSL Services, said: “Westminster has always been very proactive in improving standards and moving the parking industry forward, and it came as no surprise to us that they expected the same of us. The new contract requires some very innovative solutions from us – and we are delighted to accept the challenge.”

Westminster took £72million in revenue from parking in 2009, almost twice as much as any other local authority in the capital. 

In May, Mouchel served the council with a High Court summons – eventually thrown out by the judge – minutes before the contract was due to be awarded to NSL. 

An unforeseen legal flaw forced them to reverse the decision to install Mouchel as the holders back in February – a blunder estimated to have cost the council £1million. 

Prior to that another firm, Apcoa, saw its legal challenge against the council halted in the High Court.