Airport Parking

Summary

A request for information regarding Airport Parking enforcement, payment statistics, and contractor costs was partially fulfilled by the Department of Infrastructure. While data on penalty notices and non-app payments was provided, the cost paid to the Ring Go service was withheld under a public interest exemption.

Key Facts

• Fixed Penalty Notices are issued under the Isle of Man Airport Parking Places (Amendment) Order 2022 and the 2012 Order.
• Traffic Wardens enforce parking restrictions and are appointed under section 33 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1985.
• A total of 440 fixed penalty notices were issued between 24th May 2022 and 28th September 2022.
• 7.60% of total users (552 individuals) made payments without using the Ring Go app during the specified period.
• The amount paid to Ring Go for the service was exempted from disclosure to protect the economic interests of the island.

Data Disclosed

• 440 fixed penalty notices
• 552 non-app payments
• 7.60% user percentage
• £13,305.50 total non-app revenue
• 24th May 2022 to 28th September 2022
• SD 2022/0205
• SD 0279/2012

Exemptions Cited

• Section 30 of the Act (prejudice to economic interests)

Original Request

Please provide the following information: 1.What statute &/or regulations gives authority for Fixed Penalty Notices to be issue to vehicles in the Airport Car Parks. 2.How many Fixed penalty notices have been issues since the start of the "Ring GO" parking system at IOM Airport. Provide these numbers as a breakdown of numbers issued by day/date and the offence code as per the fixed penalty notices. (Eg: 01/06/22 - 25 - 6.2) 3. How many individual payments have made by 'not' using Ring Go such as paying by phone or at the Information Desk. 4. How much has Ring Go been paid for the service. 5. What are "Civil Enforcement Officers" as listed on the Airport's Official Website and provide the information on how they are appointed and what their powers are. Provide the actual legal 'authority'. 6. Provide a copy of the relevant statutory Authority that gives the "Civil Enforcement Officers" the power to issue the Fixed Penalty Notices in the airport Car Parks. 7. Provide a list of all persons (as in the post, not the individuals name) who are empowered to issue Fixed Penalty Notices in the Airport Car Parks.

Data Tables (5)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 2610157 7 October 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 6 September 2022 and which states:

"Please provide the following information: 1.What statute &/or regulations gives authority for Fixed Penalty Notices to be issue to vehicles in the Airport Car Parks. 2.How many Fixed penalty notices have been issues since the start of the "Ring GO" parking system at IOM Airport. Provide these numbers as a breakdown of numbers issued by day/date and the offence code as per the fixed penalty notices. (Eg: 01/06/22 - 25 - 6.2) 3. How many individual payments have made by 'not' using Ring Go such as paying by phone or at the Information Desk. 4. How much has Ring Go been paid for the service. 5. What are "Civil Enforcement Officers" as listed on the Airport's Official Website and provide the information on how they are appointed and what their powers are. Provide the actual legal 'authority'. 6. Provide a copy of the relevant statutory Authority that gives the "Civil Enforcement Officers" the power to issue the Fixed Penalty Notices in the airport Car Parks. 7. Provide a list of all persons (as in the post, not the individuals name) who are empowered to issue Fixed Penalty Notices in the Airport Car Parks."

Our response to your request is as follows: 1. What statute &/or regulations gives authority for Fixed Penalty Notices to be issue to vehicles in the Airport Car Parks. The Isle of Man Airport Parking Places (Amendment) Order 2022 (SD 2022/0205) and the Isle of Man Airport Parking Places Order 2012 (SD 0279/2012). Traffic Wardens are currently enforcing parking restrictions at the Airport. The Traffic Wardens are appointed under section 33 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1985. 2. How many Fixed penalty notices have been issues since the start of the "Ring GO" parking system at IOM Airport.

Provide these numbers as a breakdown of numbers issued by day/date and the offence code as per the fixed penalty notices. (Eg: 01/06/22 - 25 - 6.2) 3. How many individual payments have made by 'not' using Ring Go such as paying by phone or at the Information Desk. Date Qty Parking Fee Avg Transaction Value May-22 37 £725.30 £19.60 Jun-22 133 £3,565.10 £26.81 Jul-22 122 £2,817.20 £23.09 Aug-22 104 £2,393.10 £23.01 Sep-22 156 £3,804.80 £24.39 552 £13,305.50 £23.38 Total User 7253 % 7.60% Not using app Total fixed penalty notices issued between 24th May 2022 to 28th September 2022 = 440 Date 12.2 11.1 6.2 4.1 5.4 TOTAL 25/07/2022 0 2 43 0 0 45 15/08/2022 1 3 56 2 1 63 22/08/2022 3 1 55 1 0 60 03/09/2022 0 1 77 0 1 79 05/09/2022 0 3 27 0 0 30 12/09/2022 0 6 38 0 0 44 13/09/2022 0 1 14 1 0 16 17/09/2022 2 0 32 0 0 34 22/09/2022 0 2 35 0 0 37 24/09/2022 0 1 31 0 0 32 440

1. How much has Ring Go been paid for the service. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Act as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the economic interests of the island. As section 30 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to a public interest test. The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large.

Factors in favour of disclosure • Transparency and openness by disclosing the information; • Accountability to the general public in respect of public expenditure.

Factors in favour of withholding • Disclosure would be likely to prejudice the economic interests of the Island. • Damage to the working relationship and trust between the contractor and the DOI. • Damage to the economy of the Isle of Man by releasing the information, if in future a similar tender exercise needed to be repeated, this could give an unfair advantage to other suppliers and could prejudice our ability to carry out competitive tenders of future work.

In taking these factors into account the Department of Infrastructure determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information. 5. What are "Civil Enforcement Officers" as listed on the Airport's Official Website and provide the information on how they are appointed and what their powers are. Provide the actual legal 'authority'. Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) was a term used on the website to describe officers employed by the Department to enforce parking restrictions in the Airport car park(s).
They were warranted as a constable under s5(2) of the Police Act 1993. 6. Provide a copy of the relevant statutory Authority that gives the "Civil Enforcement Officers" the power to issue the Fixed Penalty Notices in the airport Car Parks. The officers specified in item 5 had the vires to enforce the Airport parking place order made under s11 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1985.
7. Provide a list of all persons (as in the post, not the individuals name) who are empowered to issue Fixed Penalty Notices in the Airport Car Parks. Traffic Wardens, Parking Controllers and the Police. Note: Traffic Wardens are currently providing the means for enforcement in this particular car park. Please quote the reference number 2610157 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. We will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely FOI Response Team