Future of the Parking Service - Challenges - OneBarnetSpeak translation service

Para 9.4 of the report dated 29 November 2010 is as follows :-

9.4       Challenges

The service is currently facing a number of challenges.  These include:

·    Lack of available funding to ensure signs and lines are in place to an acceptable standard.

·    Lack of funding to renew pay and display machines, which means that a relatively significant proportion are out of order at any one time.

·    There are high sickness levels among CEOs; in the first quarter of 2010/11 parking lost a total of 379 days due to sickness.

·          Reduced income to the special parking account.

Let's undo the BarnetOneSpeak and see what these mean shall we ?

There isn't a lack of available funding to ensure signs and lines are in place. There is a £2m - £5m surplus every year. The first thing that it is legitimate to spend parking income on is the control of parking - stating the bleeding obvious I know. How can someone write such a whopper and hope that we will swallow it ?

Lack of funding to renew pay & display machines. 
You have a £2m - £5m surplus Barnet. 
Q. How many machines could you buy with that 
? A. More than enough. 

High sickness levels among CEOs.  Well no wonder is it ? It is a very stressful job; no-one likes getting a parking ticket and the back office is in turmoil so it is hardly worth it to turn up and issue more tickets & make the situation worse ? 

42% of the people you meet who have tried phoning the Parkling Centre haven't been able to get through on the telephone and are mad about it. More and more machines are out of order and lines and signs are missing or wrong. Not much job satisfaction and lots of talk about being privatised. 

Perhaps every Councillor should spend a day as a CEO ( Civil Enforcement officer ). I've never found then to be civil; downright insolent in fact but better than some faceless bod from a third party who don't give a hoot about the borough.

Reduced income to the special parking account. Now we have really hit the nail on the head here. The Council view us as cash cows. Really they should be pleased if the number of tickets issued goes down as that means we are all being more law abiding which is a good Big Society aim surely.  But if less money is collected from parking them more needs to be collected from Council Tax. As Council Tax has to be frozen this year then if Parking Income goes down it means that spending on something else has to suffer; maybe Education as the unfortunate Mr Chrysostomou of Highways said at the Chipping Barnet Residents' Forum in February ( I don't think the Council would be wise to wheel him out again ).

So Paragraph 9.4 is written solely to serve the Council's own agenda.