SCC’s “Mad” Contract Decision Costs Elmbridge £400,000

A decision by Conservative Run Surrey County Council - that has been described as ‘mad’ - has landed Elmbridge Borough Council with an additional £400,000 of costs.

Surrey County Council is unilaterally pulling out of a joint car parking enforcement contract -that has been run efficiently for years- from 1st April 2023. Now there will be two separate teams of Car Parking Inspectors in Elmbridge instead of one and it will cost £400,000 more.

More Inspectors, More Cost

Commenting on Surrey’s decision, Elmbridge’s Cllr Robin Stephens said :

‘This looks like a mad decision to me. SCC might think their decision makes sense for them, but it doesn’t for our residents. It’s poor management of public funds and it’s Elmbridge which is picking up the bill for their decision”. Cllr Stephens is Cabinet Member for Economy and Local Enterprise at EBC and responsible for car parking. He went on: “ I understand from EBC officers that SCC acknowledges we were running our contract efficiently. But some Councils weren’t. So they have thrown the Elmbridge baby out with the bath water. SCC’s decision lands us with picking up the bill for £400,000 additional costs”

SCC Decision Hits Residents

Cllr Stephens again: “ This unexpected £400,000 cost is Surrey County Council careening over the residents of Elmbridge like a car that’s hit a pot hole on one of our badly maintained roads.

Maybe  £400,000 doesn’t seem a lot to SCC but it’s significant to Elmbridge. If we raise our council tax bill by 3% it raises £450,000 …  by contrast SCC will increase their total budget by over £60m with their Council Tax bill increase of 2.99%

He concluded by saying : “ It will seem mad to our residents that instead of having one team of Parking Inspectors for our borough and one efficiently run contract now we will have two .”