Service Specification for the Enforcement of On-Street Parking Debts
London Borough of Islington
Service Specification for the Enforcement of On-Street Parking Debts
1. Service Definition
1.1The Council as part of its Parking Enforcement duties, issues Penalty Charge Notice, (PCNs) to motorists contravening the Parking Regulations. When offenders fail to pay the PCN, the Council applies to the County Court (otherwise known as the Traffic Enforcement Centre, or TEC) for authority to issue a warrant of execution to recover the debt, which must be executed by Certificated Bailiffs.
1.2It is intended that the execution of warrants will be self-financing; the successful contractor will derive its income not by payment from the Council, but by charging fees to the debtor, in addition to the debt owed to the Council which is to be recovered. These fees are laid down in schedule 1 of the Statutory Instrument no.2072 (L17) – “The Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) Regulations 1993, as amended 1998. The contractor must demonstrate that it has adhered to schedule 1 above, when submitting payment schedules and will be required to submit a complete schedule of their fees.
1.3The contract will be awarded to the Tenderer who best fulfils the following criteria.
a)Evidence of financial stability.
b)Quality of performance on comparable contracts, i.e. references and demonstrable proof of recovery rates achieved in other similar contracts.
c)Employing sufficient numbers of staff to perform contract, nationally and locally –both in terms of the bailiffs, and in terms of the back office administration.
d)Evidence that all enforcement officers employed by the Tenderer are Certificated Bailiffs under the Distress for Rent Rules 1988(b) and that the company is itself a member of the Association of Certificated Bailiffs or an equivalent professional organisation in the country in which the company is established.
e)Quality of recruitment procedures and training for staff employed on the contract. Evidence of external quality accreditation will be expected.
f)Ability to provide accurate and comprehensive information on a regular basis relating to issued warrants, including payment schedules.
g)Ability to provide a data communications link between the contractors I.T system and the Councils’ I.T system and the type and quality of the information, which the client can access by allowing web-site access with password control.
h)The ability to fulfil the Council’s customer relation requirements.
i)Evidence that debtors will be charged reasonable costs.
j)Evidence of the membership of Bailiff Professional Trade Association (ESA affiliated) and of the Code of Conduct/Practice that the Company supports.
1.4 Warrants will be issued for unpaid on-street parking fines.
2. Service Objectives
The major Service objectives are to ensure that:
2.1 The Council’s detailed requirements are comprehensively met
2.2 Income to the Council is maximised
2.3 Such arrangements represent good value for money
2.4 All viable service improvement opportunities are continually explored and where practical, implemented
2.5 As far as possible a partnership relationship is developed, based on trust, mutual respect, and customer focus
3. Contract Strategy
3.1The Council plans to appoint one or more companies to form a panel of contractors to deliver the specified services for a period of 5 years from the ………….. to …………..(TBC) The Council shall have the option to extend the Contract for two further periods of one year each and the Contract shall not be terminated by either party within that period save in accordance with the provisions of the Conditions.
3.2The Council will expect the contractors to return warrants to the Council no later than 6 months after the issue date on the warrants. These warrants may then be redirected to other contractors on the panel, dependant on their success rate of cases issued to them.
3.3The Council will endeavour to supply the contractor with the highest possible quality of debts. In particular, the council will seek to ensure that:
3.3.1.Every warrant issued is not older than eight months after the issue of PCN.
3.3.2.Every warrant issued has a valid postal code and exclude addresses that contain post office box numbers.
3.3.3.No unrecoverable warrants are issued (i.e. those relating to debtors resident in Scotland).
3.3.4.The Council will ensure that each warrant is properly enforceable and would minimise any instances whereby warrants are withdrawn.
3.3.5.The Council will reimburse the Contractor for any withdrawn warrants when that includes the requirement to refund cost incurred i.e. clamp or removal fees.
3.3.6.In the event of the submission of a Late Statutory Declaration by the debtor, the council will challenge such actions and present witness statements in sufficient time to properly challenge the Late Statutory Declaration.
4.Detailed Requirements of Services
4.1 The Contractor will be required to execute the warrants of execution obtained by the Council against motorists who have failed to pay Penalty Charge Notices, issued for contravening the Parking Regulations. The Contractor shall execute the warrants in accordance with the terms of this Specification, the Code of Conduct and the Contract Conditions.
4.2. Acknowledging receipt of instruction from the London Borough of Islington
4.2.1. Prior to actioning any instructions the Contractor will transfer and reconcile the records with their IT system. These records must be kept up-to-date. A clear audit trail must be maintained at all times providing a comprehensive history of all activities and outcomes at an individual case level from receipt of instruction through to its ultimate return.
4.2.2. Acknowledged receipt of instructions, will be by electronic transfer, (e-mail or equivalent), within 2 days.
4.2.3The Council may choose to transfer batches of hard-copy Warrants to the Contractor, which will then be served by the individual bailiffs during visits to properties This requirement may only apply in the event of long term system failure.
4.3 Transferring, reconciling and maintaining computerised records of instructions
4.3.1. The Contractor must support the provision of the specified services with an I.T. system that has the ability to interface with the Council’s I.T. system and that is capable of:
a)Recording all the pertinent data relating to the instructions issued by the London Borough of Islington
b)Recording payments, arrangements, enforcement stage reached, action taken to date and other transactions/history relevant to the case, so that customers or client’s enquiries can be satisfactorily answered on demand. This to include the identification of reasons for non collection, as agreed with the employers representative.
c)Providing adequate controls at input, throughput and output stages
d)Providing control, system and management information reports at an appropriate level
e)Printing individual reports with complete audit trails
4.3.2. The Contractor will provide access to its IT system, both to send and receive data, (warrant information, e-mails, faxes etc) and to independently check the status of its client files/records, and to communicate generally.
4.3.3. The Contractor will be responsible:
a)For ensuring that all its data output conforms with the required format specified by the Employer’s Representative, and is virus-free.
b)For keeping records up-to-date.
c)For keeping detailed records of all monies collected on the London Borough of Islington’s behalf for a minimum of 6 years.
d)For registering and complying with all the provisions of the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998, the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Freedom of Information Act 2001
e)Regularly reviewing the security arrangements for all aspects of data processing.
4.3.4. The Contractor will allow immediate access to its records and accounts pertaining to the service when requested by the Employer’s Representative
4.4 Authorisation of Bailiffs
4.4.1. Before a Bailiff may enforce warrants of execution on behalf of the London Borough of Islington, he/she must first be personally authorised to do so by the Employer’s Authorised representative.
The Contractor must supply a schedule of the company structure and must therefore provide the following information for each nominated Bailiff at the start of the contract, and subsequently on an as-and-when-required basis:
a) The person’s name, date of birth, and gender
b) The Bailiff’s mobile phone and contact number
c) A copy of the Bailiff’s current County Court certificate
4.4.2The Contractor shall notify the Employer’s Representative if:
a) Any Bailiff ceases to be employed by them
b) Any Bailiff has had his/her County Court certificate revoked, or renewal refused
4.4.4The Employer’s Representative may withdraw authorisation of an individual Bailiff, at any time and will do so where he/she considers:
a)That a Bailiff has not acted within the scope and spirit of the prevailing legislation
b)That a Bailiff has failed to maintain the highest ethical and professional standards
c)That a Bailiff has not represented the London Borough of Islington in a responsible and courteous manner when dealing with its customers
d)That a Bailiff has failed to process cases in a sensitive, firm but fair manner.
4.4.5Sub-contracting of any part of the specified service will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. The Employer’s Representative must provide prior written consent if he/she is intending to do so.
4.5 Ensuring that employees meet the London Borough of Islington’s conduct and appearance requirements
4.5.1 All employees meeting the London Borough of Islington’s customers, in whatever capacity, shall dress smartly and behave in a polite, dignified, and discrete manner at all times.
4.5.2. No employee is permitted to talk to the press about any case without the express written permission of the Employer’s representative who must be immediately informed of any such contact.
4.5.3. Whilst working on this contract each Bailiff must:
Carry:
a)their authorisation to act
b)a current Bailiff certificate
c)the warrant (which must be valid)
Show:
a)their identity card when calling to execute a warrant or any other task in relation to the performance of the contract, and
b)their authorisation to act and/or their current bailiff certificate on demand
c)the valid warrant
And be able to communicate via their mobile phone.
4.6 Issuing a letter of Intended Action to Customers
4.6.1. This should be issued to all customers within the appropriate time -scale, as set out in paragraph 4.22 below.
4.6.2.All letters and forms used in performing this contract must be legally correct and where possible in “Plain English”. Copies of all standard letters should be provided to the employers representative where prescription does not allow this, then an accompanying explanation (in leaflet format) should be considered after discussion with the employers representative.
4.7 Distraining and Removing Goods
Where distress is levied and goods removed, the person named in the warrant of execution:
4.7.1.must be informed in writing by the Bailiff making the distraint before leaving the premises-
a)what goods have been removed
b)where his/her goods have been removed to
c)how much he/she needs to pay, to stop them being sold (together with the relevant time - scales for sale), and how the costs are made up
d)who he/she needs to contact about any queries they may have or any complaint that they may wish to make
4.7.2must be given whatever other information and/or advice he/she may reasonably require
4.8 Securing and storing of Distrained Goods
Goods, which have been distrained, must at all times be:
a) handled with due care and attention
b) properly secured
c) properly insured
4.9 Selling distrained goods
4.9.1Where goods are distrained and removed, all reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that the best possible prices are obtained if they are ultimately sold. Professional judgement should therefore be exercised in each case and a decision to auction goods only taken where this is deemed to be the most appropriate way to obtain the best possible price for the goods involved.
4.9.2When the goods are to be sold, the Bailiffs, or if not, their chosen auctioneers, shall:
a)inform the Council of the date and location of sale, the amount of the cheque raised and provide copies of all documents sent to the person named in the warrant, prior to, and after the sale.
Thereafter, within five working days from the date of sale, inform the person named in the warrant of execution of the following:
a)that a sale has occurred and the amount raised (where necessary providing a breakdown for each item)
b)credit the amount to their account after deduction of the expenses incurred, which must be clearly itemised, and
c)inform them of any balance due, or refund any overpayment within five working days of the sale occurring
4.10 Tracing the whereabouts of customers that have responded to prior action
All reasonable steps must be taken to trace the whereabouts of customers not responding to prior action.
4.11 Processing Correspondence
4.11.1. All written communications issued must give an address, telephone number and, where possible, a specific person that the customer can contact
4.11.2. All correspondence that requires a response must be replied to within ten working days of receipt
4.11.3. Correspondence received from the Employer’s Representative, marked as urgent, that deals with Councillor’s or MPs’ complaints, must be answered within five working days of receipt.
4.12 Processing Phone Calls
4.12.1. Phone calls should be answered within 5 ringsand an appropriate personal response given, between the hours of 08.30 and 17.30 weekdays.
4.12.2. Outside these hours an answering service must be provided. The content of the message to be left on the answering service must be agreed with the Employer’s Representative.
4.12.3. Where it is not possible to provide an appropriate answer at the time then the caller should be rung back within two working days with an appropriate answer. Where, in exceptional cases, the query is particularly complicated, an acknowledgement must be sent within two working days of the call and a full written reply dispatched within further eight working days.
4.12.4. Local call tariffs should apply.
4.13 Banking and Accounting for Money
4.13.1. The Contractor shall maintain a dedicated bank account, (a client account), for the specific purpose of discharging this contract. The details of the account must be lodged with the Employer’s representative at the commencement of the contract, in compliance with Condition 7.1 of the Conditions of Contract.
4.13.2. The Contractor shall ensure that all monies collected on behalf of the Council, including any costs or fees paid as a result of executing or attempting to execute any warrants, are paid into the account either the same day, or if not practicable by close of business the following day.
4.13.3. The Contractor will be responsible for all the bank charges and any other costs associated with administering the account. (This will include any bank charges for handling card transactions). Responsibility for these charges will rest with the Contractor, and costs must not be passed on to the debtor.
4.13.4. The Contractor will, as a last resort, post unidentifiable payments to a suspense account. Action should be taken on a monthly basis to systematically clear the account.
4.13.5. The Contractor will provide the Employer’s Representative with the following information, on a weekly basis:
a)a schedule analysing all monies banked in the relevant period, including (at an individual transaction level), the account and warrant reference details, payees name, payment date and amount, amount paid to authority, and the Contractor’s fees/costs and amount allocated against them.
b)Any supporting documentation, including the bank paying-in slips and bank statements for the relevant period
c)A cheque for the gross amount banked, and an invoice for the total costs and fees for the accounting period
d)A disc containing returned warrants and documentation history
e)Payment disc with supporting documents
4.14 Providing and Administering Payment Facilities
4.14.1. The Contractor will provide and administer cash, cheque, postal order, credit and debit card, giro bank, bankers draft and internet payment facilities.
4.14.2. Receipts must be issued in all cases except where non-cash postal payments are made and a receipt is not specifically requested
4.14.3. Where practicable instalment facilities and procedures should be agreed where necessary in consultation with the Council. Although the intention must be to try and recover debt as quickly as possible, this must not be done at the expense of everything else or by causing hardship. Where in doubt the employee should seek the advice of the Council representative.
4.15 Providing Performance Management Information
4.15.1. The Contractor will provide the following information each month, on a date, and in a format to be agreed with the Employer’s Representative:
(a) Number of warrants received in the period
(b) Letters sent in this period
(c) Bailiff visits made in the period
(d) Cases where goods removed or vehicles clamped
(e) Number, value and duration of arrangements by recovery stage
(f) Warrants successfully executed in period, analysed by total, value and recovery stage
(g) Warrants returned unexecuted in period, analysed by category (reason) type, value and recovery stage
(h) An analysis of all warrants brought forward from previous months, including the number, value, recovery stage and age
(i) In any event the contractor will provide such other information, and in such a format, as may occasionally be required by the Employer’s Representative.
4.16 Monitoring of Charging Policy
4.16.1 The Contractor may charge the appropriate amounts specified in the scale of charges set out in The Enforcement of Road Traffic Debts (Certificated Bailiffs) Regulations 1993, as amended 1998 or as may be prescribed in successor regulations.
4.17 Returning Records
4.17.1. The Contractor shall return case records within five working days of the case either being paid in full, or being identified as uncollectable
4.17.2. “Uncollectable debts” shall include cases where
a) The person named in the warrant of execution:
i) has moved abroad, or
ii) is insolvent, or
iii) has left the last known address, and efforts to trace him/her have been unsuccessful, or
iv)is dead
b)The recovery process is stifled by the prescribed circumstances
c)The Council’s representative has issued an instruction to return the case
d)In any event, the contractor shall return any uncollected warrant no later than SIX MONTHS after the date of that warrant. These warrants may then be redirected to other contractors, see 3.2.