North East Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire Council is a local authority serving 160,000 people. The Parking Service at NELC is delivered through a regeneration partnership with EQUANS Services Limited.
A Positive Start for North East Lincolnshire Parking System Modernisation Journey
North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) published “The Council Plan” in 2022 which outlined details of services to be delivered and developments planned in the next five years. The plan seeks to deliver transformation and innovation through the optimal use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the ambition of NELC to work with its partners to create ‘Stronger Economies’ and ‘Stronger Communities’.
Building Stronger Businesses and Communities
Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) supports NELC’s priorities of creating a stronger local economy and community by integrating traffic management policies with effective on and off-street parking. Traffic management helps to manage congestion and flow and improves safety for pedestrians and drivers. It supports the local economy through the provisions of parking for retail, business, tourism and leisure.
Digital Transformation Procurement
As part of the procurement process, NELC and EQUANS undertook a full review of their parking operations and concluded that a new parking management system was required to transform the service and deliver a much improved and enhanced customer experience.
NELC and EQUANS wanted a future-ready system that would take advantage of new technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and would streamline their parking back-office processes. The service would move away from a paper-based system of issuing permits to a state-of-the-art digital system, significantly reducing workloads and delays and giving residents and businesses the service they expect.
In addition, there would be consideration of future integration/generic working of on-street scene-based enforcement activities undertaken by Environmental Enforcement Officers (EEOs).
The scope of the procurement was for a fully integrated IT solution to allow the issue and processing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for civil parking contraventions and environmental crime. The system would also manage the processing of parking permits for residents and staff and season tickets for their council car parks.
NELC and EQUANS collaboratively produced a business case outlining the objectives of the project and the outcomes sought.
A Strong Bid
In 2021 NELC and EQUANS awarded their parking management software contract to ZatPark following a competitive tender process. ZatPark has a strong track record of delivering market-leading parking management and permit solutions in the UK. Our system has issued more than 10 million PCNs.
NELC found our ZatPark bid to be stronger than the incumbent system supplier and two further bidders, and we were delighted to be awarded the contract.
Lynne Bromley, Parking Manager, EQUANS said:
“Most of the procurement team and I had no prior knowledge of ZatPark until we started to evaluate the bids. The decision to select ZatPark was based on how well it met our requirements along with it being competitively priced. The quality of the technical submission and thorough software demonstration showed a great deal of effort was made. It was the best solution to allow us to transform our service and improve value for money.”
The Project – Delivering Digital Transformation in Parking
Delivery of the project began immediately after the award of the contract.
To oversee the delivery of the project was Head of Onboarding & Implementation Oli Pelliccio. Oli has considerable experience in delivering enforcement projects of this scale and understands the benefits of a joined-up approach. Oli worked closely with Lynne, who would oversee the project on behalf of EQUANS and NELC to develop an achievable project plan. The plan outlined the resources/time and activities needed to meet the planned outcomes. With multiple stakeholders involved, it was clear that good communication was critical for the success of the project. Weekly project calls were held, to discuss progress, issues and risks.
Phase 1 – Discovery, Customisation, and Implementation
We held discovery sessions and workshops between NELC and the ZatPark onboarding and product teams to understand NELC requirements.
Phase 2 – Onboarding and In-person Staff Training
The onboarding plan would drive the maximum value of the new system by quickly taking advantage of process and efficiency improvements. User training is a central pillar in achieving continuous improvement, and the key to its success is to avoid a one size fits all approach.
Phase 3 – Configuring Environmental Enforcement
Phase 3 saw the emphasis move from Parking Enforcement to Environmental Enforcement.
Seeing the Benefits of Automation
The greater automation of the new system is providing clear benefits as NELC can deliver better service using fewer resources, and local residents and business experience a quicker and more efficient service.
NELC was able to make a positive start to its digital transformation programme, with a clear focus on improving services to its local residents and businesses. NELCs delivery of the service has moved from being labour and resource intensive to smooth and efficient. The uptake of their online services reinforces that customers want access to services 24/7.
“We thrive on creative partnerships and are really excited to partner NELC and EQUANS. We understand the increasing demands they face to provide better services and are proud of the achievements in their transformation journey. We are committed to the parking sector and have a dedicated team, who possess a wealth of knowledge and experience of our products, technology and market needs. We will continue to enhance our software and services by adopting new technologies and ideas”
Dave Herbert CEO of ZatPark
NELC – North East Lincolnshire Council
EQUANS – NELC services supplier
Download the full NELC Case Study
Download the North East Lincolnshire Council case study and learn how the ZatPark team worked with them to support their digital transformation programme.
