'Constant Pressure' to Issue Parking Fines in Wandsworth
Staff say underhand tactics being used to catch drivers
Parking attendants say Wandsworth 'notoriously bad' for faded yellow lines
August 7, 2024
Parking attendants in the borough of Wandsworth are claiming they are under ‘constant pressure’ to dish out tickets and that, as a result, drivers are being unfairly fined. Staff employed by NSL on behalf of Wandsworth Council, before the contract was taken over by APCOA Parking on August 1, alleged the pressure had pushed some attendants into ruthlessly handing out tickets using underhand tactics. NSL denies the allegations.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) spoke to seven whistleblowers who all claimed attendants were pressured to dish out tickets under NSL. They said NSL did not provide a written issue rate for tickets, as it is illegal to set quotas, but there was a common understanding among staff that they were expected to issue at least five tickets a day on foot, and more if they used a bike.
They claimed wardens were investigated for ‘low performance’ if they issued fewer tickets, regardless of a lack of offending vehicles. “If somebody is not following the rules then I have to enforce it,” one warden said. “But the way they are [speaking] to us is like it doesn’t matter, just bring [tickets].”
Another employee added, “When they’re talking about performance, they’re really looking at [wardens’] ticket numbers.”
This pressure, they claimed, left wardens fearing for their job and pushed some into using underhand tactics to slap drivers with tickets. They slammed their work environment as ‘unhealthy’, ‘stressful’ and ‘horrible’.
The council responded to a Freedom of Information request, submitted by the LDRS, which showed a general increase in the number of parking fines issued in Wandsworth since 2020 – 154,295 in 2020/21, 167,825 in 2021/22, 144,947 in 2022/23 and 188,850 in 2023/24. The council collected £7.4million in revenue from parking fines in 2020/21, £8.3m in 2021/22, £7.7m in 2022/23 and roughly £10m in 2023/24.
Council documents show the authority collects around £40m in overall parking-related income each year, which includes permits and pay and display charges.
The LDRS spoke to the wardens while NSL still held the contract for parking enforcement services with the council, as it had since September 2016. NSL, which is part of Marston Holdings, continues to hold contracts in several London boroughs – including Brent, Islington, Lewisham, Camden and Kensington & Chelsea.
While APCOA took over the contract for Wandsworth on 1 August, after nearly eight years, wardens raised serious concerns over how the service had been run and claimed the council had not supported them – described by one warden as a ‘dereliction’ of its duty. They said they did not feel NSL or the council had properly protected their safety or listened to concerns that were reported, in a frontline job they described as physically demanding, sometimes dangerous, and mentally draining.
The wardens also claimed equipment they were given by NSL was often faulty and unreliable – including bodycams not working, which was a safety issue, and radio batteries running out quickly. An email from an NSL boss seen by the LDRS acknowledged issues with equipment provided to wardens.
A Marston Holdings spokesperson disputed some of the claims put forward by staff. They said parking attendants were not given faulty equipment and the company had invested in new radios and bodycams, adding they were properly trained with nationally-accredited courses and the council was investing £1m to improve lines and signs.
A council spokesperson added it valued the parking attendants’ hard work.
One attendant claimed he had been put on performance reviews over the number of tickets he had issued, which left him in constant fear of losing his job and took a toll on his mental health.
He said, “Say if one day I’ll bring three tickets, four tickets… I’ll be questioned, like why is my performance low. They won’t say verbally your ticket numbers are low, which they know is against the law, but I feel like I’ve been put under pressure just to bring them numbers of tickets.”
He added, “I want to be able to enjoy doing my job… if I brought four tickets, I’ll be constantly feeling like I’m under pressure or my job might be on the line.”
He claimed this pressure resulted in some drivers being unfairly fined. “Some of the tickets that other people are issuing… are not correct because they have to issue them because they don’t want to be asked questions,” he said.
He alleged that neither NSL nor the council had adequately supported wardens. “Nobody’s happy,” he said. “It just feels like nobody cares about you, they just care about tickets.”
The whistleblowers said they felt NSL was more eager to blame them than to properly tackle the issues, which created an ‘intimidating environment’ – for instance, they claimed staff had been accused of turning their radio off when the battery had run out.
The attendants also described the state of lines and signs, designed to make parking restrictions clear to drivers, as ‘notoriously bad’ in Wandsworth. Although they told the LDRS they repeatedly reported issues with faded markings and vandalised or confusing signs to the council, they saw no real improvement and parts of the borough looked ‘abandoned’.
One member of staff, who had worked in other London boroughs, said he was shocked at the ‘terrible’ condition of lines and signs in Wandsworth when he took up the role. He said, “I just couldn’t believe that there were so many locations where the signs and the lines were either not clear, not there or vandalised and nothing seems to ever get done about it the majority of the time.”
Another told the LDRS he found it ‘unethical’ to dish out penalties due to the state of lines and signs in Wandsworth. He said he felt the council ignored concerns about the service, which would improve if it was brought under the authority’s control.
He said, “It’s just a very negative environment and I feel abandoned by the council because they, in my view, could bring us in house but they don’t want to.”
He was particularly concerned about the alleged pressure to issue tickets causing some dishonest parking attendants to use underhand tactics – including, he alleged, issuing tickets to cars parked in a bay with no restrictions by photographing the nearest sign, despite it not applying to the bay.
He claimed some attendants also issued tickets unfairly by hiding so motorists could not see them and photographing cars with a ticket on the windscreen before removing it, so the owner did not know they had been fined until a letter arrived in the post weeks later, by which time the penalty had doubled.
The attendant said, “You’re constantly pressured that if you don’t come back with tickets, ‘why didn’t you bring back tickets?’ We don’t hire you to just walk around, you need to be bringing back tickets… it explains why there’s so much violent behaviour and aggressive behaviour from the wardens.”
He added: “A lot of the wardens are very aggressive giving out tickets and I feel you can kill off local businesses like that. I’ll get abuse out of a window from a passing car and I know I’ve not done anything wrong, but I know what will have triggered that behaviour in the driver.”
‘If you’re having a slow day, that’s your profits gone’
Local businesses claimed to the LDRS they had experienced underhand tactics from ruthless parking attendant.
One worried business owner had just received a council letter telling her she had been fined £130 for illegally parking her car a month prior. The fine had doubled as she had not responded to the initial notice, but she claimed the ticket was not left on her car’s windscreen so she was not aware of the penalty. She said she was allowed to park in the bay, and the warden had photographed a sign that did not apply.
“I was so upset all night,” she said, despairing over how she would pay the hefty penalty as she had not had any customers that day.
Another business owner, who claimed to have experienced ‘frustrating’ underhand tactics, added: “If you’re having a slow day, that’s your profits gone.”
Staff claimed inadequate training also resulted in some colleagues mistakenly handing out unfair fines. Among their concerns was that new recruits were not trained properly in conflict management, which left them more vulnerable on the streets.
They reported that hostile situations with the public were taking place more frequently, and they did not feel protected by NSL or the council. One told the LDRS, “There’s just not enough precaution or care put into place to safeguard [wardens].”
The employee urged the council to improve its communication, adding, “The bottom line is we’re just not really appreciated in any way and we don’t really have a voice. If we say anything you get shut down, you get told to just be quiet, it doesn’t go anywhere.”
A Marston Holdings spokesperson said, “In accordance with the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA), under which all civil parking enforcement activities are undertaken by NSL on behalf of Wandsworth Council, there are no penalty charge notice (PCN) issuance targets for our civil enforcement officers (CEO) and no officer has ever been sanctioned based on PCN issue rate.
“The safety of our CEOs is paramount and we monitor on-street activities to ensure their ongoing safety. It is inaccurate to claim that CEOs are issued with old and faulty equipment as we have made significant investments in new, state-of-the-art radio equipment and body-worn video. All officers are required to check that this equipment is functioning correctly before each shift and are not permitted to deploy without fully operational faulty equipment. We regularly check that this equipment is functioning properly during shifts.
“It is incorrect to claim that CEOs are poorly trained. Prior to being deployed on street, every NSL CEO is fully trained, using nationally accredited programmes including a City and Guilds accredited foundation in parking enforcement course and a Maybo accredited conflict management course.
“All CEOs have the ability to report damaged or missing signs and lines through their handheld computers and this information is notified to Wandsworth Council which is currently investing £1m to continue to improve signs and lines in the borough.
“Every PCN issued is required to be supported by photographic evidence of the PCN placed on the contravening vehicle. Wandsworth Council checks all issued PCNs and cancels any which do not include such images. It is incorrect to claim that Wandsworth Council or NSL issue postal PCNs.
“Members of the public have a statutory right to appeal to the council, in line with the TMA, against any issued PCN. Any upheld challenges are notified to NSL to enable officers to be retrained as appropriate.”
A Wandsworth Council spokesperson added, “From August 1, the council’s parking enforcement contract moves to a new supplier. We are positive about this change – we value the wardens’ hard work and are glad that, after being consulted, the vast majority of wardens have chosen to remain working in the borough.”
The website Bidstats, which lists details of contracts put out to tender by local authorities, showed the new parking enforcement contract, worth £33m, was awarded to APCOA.
The contract will be held jointly by Richmond and Wandsworth councils over a maximum of seven years, to replace the boroughs’ previous separate contracts. While one company delivers the service, CEOs follow individual council policies and separate financial accounting processes.
Charlotte Lilywhite - Local Democracy Reporter