Campaign To Call For Public Inquiry Into Westminster City Council

Nov. 25, 2009 - PRLog -- A showdown is expected on 7th December between the Westminster led group ‘Partnership in Parking’ and leaders of the No To Bike Parking Tax (NTBPT) Campaign group, who are calling for a public inquiry into alleged rigging of contracts, misuse of national taxpayers’ money, and breaches in procedure and protocol.

The showdown comes as Westminster (WCC) have still not reached a decision on the controversial and unpopular bike parking ‘tax’ – a decision was due on 4th August 2009 but Cllr Chalkley has yet to state his intentions.

WCC charged the London Centre of Excellence, a publicly funded enterprise, £675,000 of national taxpayers’ money for  Stephen Lawrenson, (via head-hunters Brooklands Executives,  given the remit of turning a ‘council function into a revenue generating business’) to draft a partnership agreement, leading to the formation of  ‘Partnership in Parking’ (PIP).  

PIP was declared as awarding, despite having no legal standing to do so, a national ‘framework agreement’ to Verrus UK Ltd for it’s pay by phone parking systems – a contract campaigners say violates EU directives regarding framework agreements where 1) the notice and tender documents do not sufficiently identify the contracting authorities to benefit from the contract, and 2) the contract is of excessive duration and prevents or restricts competition. (Source: Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31st March 2004, Article 32 (2).)

This award followed WCC’s own controversial “handing without tender-process” to Verrus of a pilot contract for the scheme.

In addition, it is alleged that PIP is being actively promoted to other local authorities (neither previously identified nor party to the original agreement) in a further breach of the EU Directives – which state that Framework Agreements ‘constitute a closed system which no-one else can enter’. (Source: Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31st March 2004, Article 32 (2).)

PIP are alleged to have also breached their own code by taking decisions electronically between board meetings in order to bring councils into PIP earlier than they should under it’s own rules (despite this already being in breach of the rules). These ‘votes’ have then been retrospectively rubber stamped in subsequent meetings.

One such example is Tower Hamlets, which despite not being voted into the group at the time of signing the framework agreement, claimed membership (via electronic vote) as qualification to adopt Verrus’s system without going out to tender.

There are additional fears that PIP have also amended the terms of their membership to allow councils from across the country to use the loop-hole, despite such a decision being applicable only after a board meeting – the next is the 7th December.

The revelations come after a year-long campaign which has seen thousands of motorcyclists take to the streets over the introduction of on street charges for parking their vehicles, without a single caution being issued by the police. The NTBPT Campaign was formed after the charges were introduced, going against the previous encouragement shown by councils across the city, and the Mayor for the congestion busting modes of transport.

Warren Djanogly, Chairman of the Campaign, said today:

“We said from the outset that Westminster had picked on a group of people that were prepared to defend themselves, and that is exactly what we have done. If it were not for this campaign, there would be no awareness of this cosy arrangement, which is another shocking example of how councils are increasingly trying to get around the rules on parking and turn it into a profit-making enterprise - as if trying to implement a punitive tax on two wheeled vehicles was not bad enough.”

The campaign intends to highlight the breaches of competition and monopoly laws, with a view to preventing the spread of PIP.

Charlie Lort-Phillips, spokesman for the Campaign, said today:

“The way in which PIP is operating is quite astonishing, and should it spread it could well follow that the motorcycle parking tax will spread with it. Therefore it is in all of our interests that these councillors are held to account here and now and prevented from taking yet more liberties with our money.’

The British Motorcyclist’s Federation has called on it’s 80,000 members to attend on the 7th, the Motorcycle Action Group is due to send a call to it’s members, and activists are leafleting motorcycle parking bays across the city to raise awareness of the event. While many are expected to attend the PIP meeting in the morning, thousands more are expected to throng the streets on the evening of the 7thas the demand for a public enquiry is submitted at the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) offices on Bressenden Place, SW1.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
THE PIP MEETING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN AT 0830 ON 7THDEC 2009 AT WESTMINSTER CITY HALL

THE RALLY IN THE EVENING STARTS FROM PARK LANE UNDERGROUND CAR PARK AT 1845AND WILL FINISH AT BRESSENDEN PLACE, SW1

USABLE PHOTOS OF THE PREVIOUS DEMOS CAN BE FOUND HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notobikeparkingtax/sets/

VIDEOS OF THE PREVIOUS DEMOS CAN BE FOUND HERE

http://www.youtube.com/user/ojosef

For further information on the campaign please contact Warren Djanogly, campaign chair, at: chairman@notobikeparkingfees.com  Mobile: 07802 882 681
or Charlie Lort-Phillips (Press Spokesman) on: 07813 138 517 charlielp@mac.com
The No To Bike Parking Fees protest group is the leading voice challenging the charges, and has enlisted the support of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Drivers’ Alliance, The British Motorcycle Federation, the Motorcycle Action Group, and thousands of bikers across the UK. Further information about the campaign can be found at www.notobikeparkingfees.com.

1)   Westminster City Council’s scheme involves a parking charge of £1 a day for every motorbike or scooter. To buy an annual parking pass now costs a minimum of £100. Since its introduction in August 2008, the parking tax has raised over £4million.
2)   In the Conservative Party’s key document on economic policy, “Reconstruction: Plan for a Strong Economy”, published at the Conservative Party Conference in September 2008 and signed by David Cameron and George Osborne, the first pledge in the Conservative agenda for Tax Reform is “an end to stealth taxes.”
3)   In a letter in March to a supporter of the campaign, Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby and Shadow Transport Minister for Roads, said ““Please note that this is not a policy set by the Conservative Party nationally but a local policy decided by Westminster councillors. I hope that this will not be replicated widely".
4)   In response to question 446/2009, Mayor Boris Johnson said about the parking tax: “I am keen to encourage the use of motorcycles in London, as evidenced by my recent announcement to allow motorcycles in bus lanes on the TLRN. I will ask TfL to discuss with Westminster as to whether the introduction of this payment has led to a reduction in the number of people using motorcycles in central London.”

“Please note that this is not a policy set by the Conservative Party nationally but a local policy decided by Westminster councillors. I hope that this will not be replicated widely". Robert Goodwill MP, Shadow Roads Minister

“I am keen to encourage the use of motorcycles in London, as evidenced by my recent announcement to allow motorcycles in bus lanes on the TLRN. I will ask TfL to discuss with Westminster as to whether the introduction of this payment has led to a reduction in the number of people using motorcycles in central London.” Mayor Boris Johnson in response to Question 446/2009

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The No To Bike Parking Fees protest group is the leading voice challenging the introduction of revenue raising parking charges in Westminster, with the support of the Taxpayers' Alliance and others. Further information is at www.notobikeparkingfees.com