To Councillor Judith Warner, Lord Mayor of Westminster, and all Westminster City Councillors

PETITION

Notice is hereby given by the undersigned residents & business ratepayers with regards the following Councillors & Officers - Re:-

Councillors:-
Colin Barrow - Leader
Robert Davis - Deputy Leader
Danny Chalkley - Cabinet Member responsible
Angela Harvey - Built Environment Policy & Scrutiny Leader

Officers:-
Alastair Gilchrist - Head of Parking
Kevin Goad - Assistant Head of Parking
Martin Low - Director of Transportation
Peter Large - Head of Legal Services

Reckless & improper use of ratepayers funds

It has been brought to our attention that the above named have collaborated to force through the introduction of parking fees for motorcycles, known as the Motorcycle Charging Scheme (MCS) despite an unprecedented level of opposition from both residents and a large section of daily visitors, so vital for the welfare of the local community.

On June 24, this opposition, currently blighting the daily commute of so many, is challenging the validity of the MCS in the High Court, which, if successful, could exact a cost to the Westminster ratepayers in excess of £200k.

Under the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Members & Officers) Orders 2004, the City Council has an obligation to indemnify the above against personal liability.

Irrespective of the merits of either side’s arguments, it is our opinion that, should the above-named, in using ratepayers’ funds to defend this MCS, lose this case, the Council should exercise its rights under Point 6 (1) (B) to declare the actions of the above to be so reckless as to exonerate the City Council from this liability, and seek to be reimbursed the full costs of the action from the individuals, personally, for the following reasons.

It is our understanding that the above-named have either been elected or employed to serve the best interests of the Residents and business community of Westminster City Council. However, upon examination, the MCS would appear to promote motorcycles by providing additional parking whilst deterring them in equal measure by affixing a charge thereby conferring absolutely no transport benefit whatsoever.

Furthermore, being originally stated as being "Revenue-Neutral", whereby the income derived was merely to cover the costs of collecting the tax and enforcing it, clearly the MCS was never designed to confer any financial benefit to the residents.

Worse still, due to either incompetence or mal-administration, the MCS has now been declared by WCC as projecting a loss, and thus a cost to residents of £430,500 annually, which is co-incidentally, the combined salary of the 4 above-named Officers.

Whilst costing the rate-payers such an amount, it would appear that the 2 private companies contracted to collect the fee and enforce it have benefited so substantially that the former, Verrus UK Ltd has recently be sold netting its UK CEO £10m, and the latter, NSL Ltd has now been marketed by its owners, 3i plc for a £170m.

Furthermore, the awarding of both contracts have been marred by claims of discrepancies in the evaluation process that threatens to see the UK Government sued by the EU Commissioners regarding the Verrus contract, whilst the re-tender of the Parking Enforcement Contract has cost the rate-payers a further £1.1m, with potential legal challenges being mounted by the unsuccessful bidders.

In light of this, we the undersigned do hereby declare that we will use every power at our disposal to invoke the charge of "recklessness" in line with Section 6 (1) (b) of the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Members & Officers) Orders 2004 pertaining to the "restrictions on indemnities", and thereby seek to hold each of the named personally liable for all resultant costs.

Sign the petition

Signed by 91 residents/businesses:-

Name Postcode Business or Resident
Kevin CooperN16Resident
Minu palSW1Resident
sanjay palSW1Resident
ozezirqsy895
zmldpcwbmo986Business
jtzyliyslyg200Business
Kevin KeohaneW2 Business
eqlzfouwc473Business
jietlm648Resident
wsgwgs928Resident
ociwgsmyaa299Business
xdboedfzcv582Resident
cjadjf758Business
wfketdhgceo337Resident
zlrtmyscip981Resident
ecnubrgde296Resident
Giles PowellW6 Business
Elaine RizzoW9 Resident
Diccon SmeetonW2 Resident
Rosina WatkinsSW1Resident
Matthew ThomasSW1Resident
Celso Fernandez-LopezW1GResident
guy hollambyw93Resident
Matthew TackW1JBusiness
Paul DuxburyW1FBusiness
Mark LutyensW93Business
Torben MerriottSW1Resident
dario gattaw10Resident
Vincenzo SuteraSW1Resident
james earpw91Resident
Sven WrightN6Resident
Mic KnightW2Business
O WoodW1FResident
James HeartwellSW1Both
c sifleetw9 Resident
Dave StewartSE1Business
Ken ShorterE2 Resident
Ken ShorterE2 Resident
James ChristieSW1Both
James ChristieSW1Both
Zachary BenjaminSW1Business
Martin JohnsonW1DResident
Jerry AbrahamsW1DResident
Galina KonovaW2 Resident
Chas WoodleyW1VResident
Nicholas RogoffSW1Resident
Arthur SenkDA1Resident
Moyah RodneyNW8Resident
Neil LaytonW2 Resident
Ben ClarkW1TBusiness
Miles BerrymanSW1Resident
Cliff FinnW1TBusiness
pam katznw8Resident
stephen dawsonw23Resident
Mohammed Abdul karimW2Resident
neil chneeysw1Both
Dimitry KalininW2 Resident
Goncalo caldeiraSw1Business
jean-christophe mogliaW2 Resident
Richard BradleyNW2Business
Alexander CohenW2 Resident
pedro fernandessw1Resident
Jiri RezacW9 Resident
Ragheb MudarresSW1Resident
kilian clissmannsw1Resident
paulo sergionw1Resident
Vincenzo SuteraSW1Resident
Soon Han JohnsonW1DResident
Gemma KafidisSW1Both
Gemma KafidisSW1Both
Gemma KafidisSW1Both
David HoughW1AResident
Michelle HughesW9 Resident
Jane TrewW9 Resident
Brent McDonaldW9 Resident
G Birdsw1Resident
Alan CollinsWC2Both
V MocklerNW8Resident
Simon StokesW1XResident
Jeremy DoddW1FBusiness
Jon BradleyW1 Business
paul pearsonnw1Business
Joel BradleyW9Resident
usman alie10Both
P A SmithNW8Resident
Nicholas PhillipsSM5Business
Colin RathboneW1DResident
KL ChanHA5Business
Derek StrattonW1WResident
David GregoryW1GResident
Tim KaufmanW1Resident