Parking Enforcement Officers in Lambeth are set to expand their role beyond giving out parking tickets - and will soon also be responsible for issuing fines for other offences such as littering, street urination and fly-tipping.

The enforcement team will be given extensive extra training and will also engage with businesses and residents to pick up local concerns under a new Lambeth Council contract with APCOA Parking.

Kim Challis, Managing Director for APCOA UK & Ireland, said:

“This is a big vote of confidence from the London Borough of Lambeth, and a recognition of the broad range of services that APCOA provides for local communities.

“By bringing Community Enforcement Officers into the community we will provide a quality service for local residents and business owners. Our partnership with Lambeth will reposition CEOs to focus on education and prevention instead, working with the community in a more co-operative way.”

The new contract will cover a range of services, including prevention

The £27 million contract, awarded after a competitive process, will go start on November 14. The eight-year contract, which will run for an initial four years, will see APCOA take on 96 existing staff.

The APCOA contract to manage parking in the borough will also cover operating a car pound, vehicle removals and operating Lambeth’s CCTV control room for parking services.

Cllr Jenny Braithwaite, Cabinet member for Environment & Sustainability, said:

“Managing our streets goes beyond just ticketing illegally parked cars. We are taking this opportunity to get on top of a whole range of environmental issues that residents have told us they are concerned about.

“It may not be the biggest issue in the world, but at Lambeth we believe littering and fouling our streets is totally unacceptable behaviour which is why we are looking at this new way of getting on top of the problem.”