'Absolute madness' of traffic warden privatisation in Cornwall

Parking enforcement in Cornwall may be privatised

A plan to privatise traffic wardens has been denounced by union leaders as "absolute, complete madness".

Cornwall Council is considering privatising parking enforcement in order to save £200,000 a year.

Stuart Roden from the Unison union said the deal threatened to add to "disastrous" privatisation ventures in health and information technology.

A council spokesman said privatising the service was "one of a range of options" being looked at.

Cornwall Council has invited interest from private companies to take over the management of 300 car parks and on street enforcement.

It employs 54 traffic wardens - or civil enforcement officers - and 17 other support staff in parking services.

The council said it needed to reduce the budget for parking enforcement by £200,000 by April 2017.

Mr Roden said: "I think it's absolute, complete madness personally. We've seen in Cornwall the experience of privatisation down here has been pretty disastrous."

He referred to a failed out-of-hours health service with Serco, an information technology contract with BT that Cornwall Council is trying to end and a much-criticised hospital contract with Mitie to provide housekeeping services.

A council spokesman said: "Officers are currently exploring a range of options for achieving this, including a partnership with the private sector."

Cornwall Council collects around £1.48 million a year from parking tickets, but it costs £1.55 million to run the service.

Richard Davies, Conservative councillor in charge of highways and transport at Lincolnshire County Council, said privatisation introduced there had worked well.

He said: "The advantage of going to an organisation that does this in a number of areas is a sense of scale and expertise because it is quite challenging."