Greenwich Council look to privatise traffic wardens and parking enforcement
A notice has slipped out on Greenwich Council’s website revealing they are looking to privatise traffic and parking enforcement.
According to a report the council are to “proceed to tender for an external contractor to deliver a civil parking enforcement service” which will include:
• Civil Parking Enforcement on & off street
• CEO & CCTV Control Room Services
• Potential use of a car pound and vehicle removal service
• Blue Badge Enforcement Service
• Mobile ANPR CCTV
Parking enforcement has long been problematic in the borough though rather than attempt to reform the service, a private company now looks set to be hired.
For many years the authority employed a small number of staff which didn’t increase in numbers despite substantial growth in new housing, population and parking zones.
Change in scope
The report states the council has “challenges facing the parking service to meet new requirements for sustainability and managing Controlled Parking Zones are considerable.”
However most new developments bring in Section 106 funds specifically to manage parking zones.
It states a review was undertaken: “The outcome of the review was that procurement of an external contractor would have a significant advantage in the challenge to meet ongoing changes and the increase in scope.”
It continues covering the option of keeping services under direct council operation: “Whilst this option would remove the requirement for change, it is unlikely that the in-house service, despite efforts and improvements made to date, will be able to meet the challenges of managing CPZs and sustainability requirements at a cost that aligns with the MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy).”
It then claims that a private company can secure “significant savings on future equipment purchases i.e. (handheld devices, mopeds, removal lorries etc).”
Income
In terms of finances, it’s stated that outsourcing will increase revenue: “The proposed outsourcing requires an increase in expenditure from an forecast £3.6m in the current fiscal year to £4.9m; however, this increase could be offset by a potential increase in forecast income from £4.1m to £6.1m.”
One may ask if such is possible, why they aren’t undertaking it themselves and thereby retaining all revenue.
Past privatisation
Privatisation of parking enforcement would follow previous privatisation of town centre wardens. That contract was heavily stacked in favour of private contractors, who claimed a set fee of £20 per fine when the deal was first announced then split the revenue 50-50.
They’d also previously used private company to enforce parking on council estates, in a deal allowing the private company to retain all revenue.
In effect the report is arguing that the council lack the ability to enhance the parking department which would enable all revenue to be retained and thus must pay an external private company to enforce.
The council’s leadership will now decide.
Sadly i can see more Council services being privatise over tbe next few years.
There have always been. Issued around parking enforcement in the Borough. Whith some areas of the Borough whete you see double parking etc making it harder for buses to stop or pass parked cars. There is an issues in Plumstead where bus drivers complained about poor parking making it difficult for them to stop at bus stops or pass parked cars.
There was a company called Wings who were hired to regulate parking on council estates years ago . That did not work out well and the Wings’ contract was not renewed.
Is there nobody around still working for the Council who remembers the lessons learnt from this ?
Trying to hold a private contractor to account for the delivery of council services is always more difficult than dealing with a directly run council service.
Never works out well for the users . This is not a good idea.
I understand the case for outsourcing. There are lower upfront and ongoing management costs compared to RBG setting up and managing operations on an ongoing basis.
The core issue here is competence. The potential to achieve increased performance and revenues rests on an assumption of competence. Does the council have people with the competence to hire brilliant people with the best skills and experience to set up and lead such a department? Does the council have competency to use available funds and resource in a way that delivers the highest ROI without any kind of bias or inefficiency?
I don’t have the confidence in RBG council to say yes to either of those questions. So if the numbers net out positive vs. insourcing, then let’s hope and pray RBG has a highly *competent* vendor and contracts team to select the best private company and set up terms that are mutually beneficial. Again, it comes down to that word “competence” **sigh**
Privatising Greenwich’s parking services risks locking residents into a system where profit, not public interest, drives every decision. Once a private operator takes control, fees can rise sharply while service quality declines, leaving residents paying more for less. Any savings the council claims today could evaporate as long‑term contracts, consultancy fees, and penalty clauses drain public funds for years. Local jobs may be cut, downgraded, or outsourced entirely, weakening employment stability for people who actually live in the borough. Accountability also suffers, because residents can no longer challenge poor performance through democratic channels—complaints get redirected to a corporation whose priority is revenue, not fairness. The loss of in‑house expertise means Greenwich becomes permanently dependent on external contractors, eroding the council’s ability to manage essential services in the future. In the end, residents shoulder the economic burden while the social fabric of the community weakens, all because the council couldn’t guarantee the competence needed to run the service themselves.
The uni party strikes again! Labour government and Labour council yet the privatisation train rolls on. We know the public and taxpayers rarely do well out of this. A rare few however do.
No wonder Labour and Tory doing so badly.