What is civil parking enforcement?
Civil parking enforcement (CPE) is a legislative change that can be made by the Highways Authority, which would allow a number of on-street offences to be handled as a civil matter enforceable by the local authority, instead of the current criminal position where it can only be enforced by the police.
Steps towards civil parking enforcement
Recognising the benefits of CPE, Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) gave approval to pursue at O&S (4 February 2021) and Cabinet (11 February 2021), which would see HDC fund on behalf of the county the needed remedial works (signs and lines) along with the ongoing costs of enforcement.
This position was supported by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) at the Highways and Transport Committee on 7 September 2021.
Recognising the wider benefits, CPE adoption is now being undertaken across Huntingdonshire, Fenland and South Cambridgeshire. Works, which include discussion with county around the details of the agreements, are continuing that will see the delivery of CPE in Huntingdonshire.
The achievable date of implementation has been reviewed by CCC based on their available resource and the need for CCC to confirm funding of a specific area in the project's delivery, which was formalised at the CCC Highways and Transport Committee on 6 December 2022.
The revised date for commencement of CPE in Huntingdonshire is October 2024.
Department for Transport (DfT) draft application
This is a DfT document submitted by CCC to form a civil enforcement area within the district. This document specifies the area enforcement will take place and confirm to the DfT the arrangements in place for managing the scheme.