This needs to be watched very closely. There will be a huge temptation for councils to duplicate the revenue stream they get from parking by empowering enforcement officers to issue fines.Hounslow's track record does not suggest that enforcement across the borough would be even and they are likely to spend most of their time in the Chiswick area. Like parking attendants these officers are likely to be on low pay and made aware that they will lose their jobs if they don't issue a certain number of fines every shift.Where they have been introduced elsewhere this has resulted in the problem of 'soft targets' with the enforcement officers steering clear of anybody breaching rules who might present a physical threat. As they don't have the power to detain the only people who will get fined are the ones that stick around and agree to hand over their details so you will get the same issue that occurs on buses in which some people travel for free with impunity but inspectors only deal with children and other people who may be vulnerable.If enforcement is to be expanded it needs independent oversight the same as the police and total transparency about PCNs including the regular publication of the profile of people given PCNs including age, gendr, ethnicity and location fine was given.As yet, other than the sweaty jogger, I haven't heard of any cases locally in which the borough enforcement officers may have overstepped their authority, so perhaps they are operating on an acceptable basis but a harsh spotlight should be thrown on them if they start to abuse their powers.
Jeremy Parkinson ● 2145d