West Sussex County Council: Civil Parking Enforcement: Park right - keeping parking in its place

Links to Sections

• Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE)
• What are the objectives?
• What are the benefits?
• What are the penalties?
• Will vehicles be removed?
• Appealing against a PCN
• Blue Badge holders
• Frequently asked questions

Changes in the law mean that councils can apply to central government to take over the enforcement of most on-street parking controls from the police.  This "decriminalisation" of parking enforcement has been adopted by the county council as Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE).  Under CPE parking enforcement has transferred from criminal law (Sussex Police) to civil law (local authority).

The West Sussex Parking Enforcement Practice Note (PDF, 110KB) is an operational statement that provides a clear framework for effective parking management activities throughout West Sussex.

Parking enforcement throughout the county is the responsibility primarily of the County Council.  To achieve effective implementation of the Integrated Parking Strategy (PDF, 147KB), the powers for on-street parking enforcement are delegated to the district and borough councils acting as our agent,  thereby enabling the integration of the responsibilities for both on-street and off-street areas.

Previously, the government received the majority of money generated through Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the police. Under CPE, the county council, in partnership with the district and borough councils, will collect these charges and use them to pay for the costs of enforcement - using any surplus money for the benefit of transport, parking and other environmental improvements within the districts or boroughs.

The management of parking enforcement changed in Horsham and Mid Sussex districts from 23 January 2006.  From this date, the district councils took over the role of on-street enforcement from Sussex Police and added this to their existing off-street (car park) parking services.  Find out more about parking enforcement in Horsham and enforcement in Mid Sussex.

CPE was introduced in Worthing borough on 10 September 2007 and is enforced by NSL Services Group.

CPE was introduced in Adur district on 5 March 2009 and is enforced by NSL Services Group.  Find out more about parking and CPE in Adur.

CPE will be introduced into other districts and boroughs in West Sussex over the next few years.