Decision Maker: Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee

Outcome: For Determination

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: December 1, 2025

Purpose: This report seeks to award the appointment of between two and five enforcement agencies, and potentially one or Two debt collection agencies.

Content: RESOLVED: To approve the award of contracts to a total of six (6) suppliers (and for a period of four (4) years in each case) based on the final evaluation scores for the collection of outstanding Penalty Charge Notice debt.   Reasons For Decision   Certificated Enforcement Agents play a crucial role in recovering unpaid debts arising from Parking Penalty Charge Notices issued under the Traffic Management Act 2004, the London Local Authorities Act 1996, and the Transport for London and London Local Authorities Act 2003. Each type of debt - whether arising from parking, bus lanes, or moving traffic contraventions - follows a distinct statutory process. This includes a sequence of notices, which may be served by hand, affixed to vehicles, or delivered by post, all intended to prompt payment or facilitate the timely discharge of liability.   Should debtors fail to discharge liability or settle outstanding debts, the Council follows a process of registering outstanding debt at the County Court in advance of issuing warrants to Certified Enforcement Agents in order to collect debts on the Council’s behalf. Enforcement Agents recover debts in accordance with the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 (as amended) and the associated fee structure set out in the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014. When a debt is successfully recovered, the enforcement company remits the amount owed to the local authority and retains the applicable fees to cover the costs of delivering the service.   The Council’s current contract with Enforcement Agencies expired in October 2025. As with the previous contract transition in 2020, it is anticipated that Hackney Council will suspend the allocation of new warrants for a period of two months prior to the commencement of the new contract. This will help ensure a smooth transition between service providers.   The two-month suspension of warrant allocation is not expected to have any detrimental impact on the service. On the contrary, it will provide Parking Services with valuable time to support the mobilisation of the new contract. During this period, customer enquiries related to enforcement are likely to decrease, as no active enforcement will be taking place. Additionally, the backlog of warrants will enable new contractors to begin the competitive period with an increased volume of cases, supporting early performance assessment and service continuity.   As the fees charged by Enforcement Agents are strictly regulated under the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, enforcement firms are unable to submit financially competitive bids in the traditional sense. Consequently, officers have reviewed the current contractual model and identified the need for a revised approach that places greater emphasis on the added value that providers can deliver to the Council - such as community benefits, innovation, performance, and social value.   It is expected that the core service offerings from Certificated Enforcement Agent firms will be broadly comparable, as most have an established presence in the market and significant experience in recovering local authority parking and traffic debt. As a result, it is anticipated that the distinguishing factor between bidders will be the “added value” elements they bring - such as community engagement, innovation, social value commitments, and customer service enhancements.   The previous contract (2020–2025) operates on a tiered model comprising one Primary Enforcement Agent and three Secondary Enforcement Agents. Under this arrangement, the Primary Enforcement Agent is given first refusal on all warrants - excluding those related to persistent evaders - provided they maintain agreed performance standards. Warrants that are either declined or returned as unrecoverable are redistributed to the Secondary Enforcement Agents, with allocations based on their relative performance. If the Primary Enforcement Agent fails to meet performance targets, the Council is reimbursed for the associated debt registration fee, currently £10 per case.   For the new contract, this model will be replaced with a performance-based competitive allocation system, as detailed in the technical specification. This approach is designed to drive continuous improvement and ensure fairer distribution of work based on results.   The proposed new model introduces a performance-based competitive approach, where multiple enforcement agencies will compete for work. This is expected to drive higher levels of performance, increase recovery rates, and improve remittances to the Council, ultimately securing greater income and service value.   Alternative Options Considered and Rejected   1.  Insourcing: 1.1 Parking Services are fully regulated and enforced under the Traffic Management Act 2004 (as amended), along with other relevant legislation. This outlines the statutory process for the issuance of parking Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) and the relevant debt recovery process. The last stage of the enforcement process is the issuance of Warrants of Controls to Enforcement Agents, which is provided by third-party suppliers.   1.2  Enforcement Agents work and the fees are regulated by the Taking Control of Goods Act 2013 (as amended), and the main scope of work is to identify debtors and collect outstanding debt.   1.3  In the past 6 financial years, the average debt owed by debtors in Hackney has been 30%. The remaining 70% is for debtors outside of Hackney, some being as far as Scotland, Liverpool and Manchester. Also, a number of vehicles that are registered in Hackney are not at the address provided at the DVLA, so it is difficult to clamp or remove the vehicles if the debt is unpaid   Fin. Year Total Warrants Warrants Paid Warrants Income Hackney Warrants % of Hackney 2019-20 26,980 4,453 £874,661 8,017 29.71% 2020-21 40,836 5,567 £1,127,153 12,427 30.43% 2021-22 82,796 6,915 £1,417,575 24,270 29.31% 2022-23 70,994 7,654 £1,569,070 22,370 31.51% 2023-24 68,101 5,409 £1,108,845 18,465 27.14% 2024-25 30,181 3,805 £992,008 7,776 25.76%   1.4  Based on the above, it is not financially viable to in-source the services of an Enforcement Agent (EA) as EAs normally work on a self-employed basis and charge approximately £70-90k per annum. Along with vehicles, removal trucks, and back office processing, the in-house EA operation would cost approximately £500k to run based on a direct comparison to our in-house enforcement operation. This would reduce the generated income by over 50% from the current levels of recovery (£1m in 2023-24). Therefore, it is recommended that the service continues to be outsourced and provided at no cost to the Council to ensure best value for money and the highest possible recovery rate.