Cheshire East councillors have permits to park free of charge on the borough’s car parks while on council business and no checks are made to see if the passes are mis-used in any way.
On the day the charges increase for the public in Crewe and Nantwich – including those who have to pay to park for work – Cheshire Live can reveal that no Cheshire East councillor has to pay to park for council business, even if they are there all day.
Cheshire East Council
We can also reveal the system is open to abuse – although we are not suggesting any councillor, past or present, has or is mis-using their pass.
Cheshire Live asked the council:
What is to stop a councillor parking up all day and using one of these passes to go to a 9-5 job which is unrelated to the council?
What monitoring is undertaken to ensure these passes are only used for council business?
How many occasions over the past financial year have the car parking wardens checked with Cheshire East, when they see one of these passes on a windscreen, to ensure the pass is being used solely for council business at that time?
A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council, said: “All parking permits issued to councillors are done so with a letter that clearly states they are only to be used for council business purposes only.
“When doing patrols, our civil enforcement officers would not know who the permit belonged to or if a car holding a permit was there on council business. We trust our councillors to use their permits correctly.
“Councillors are bound by a code of conduct, contained within the council’s constitution. This requires certain standards of behaviour, including those relating to honesty and integrity. Failure to abide by these standards would result in a breach of the code.”
The Conservative-controlled council voted through increases for parking charges which come into effect in Crewe and Nantwich today (Wednesday).
The new fees will see 10p added across each tariff on most car parks, the re-introduction of charges on Thomas Street in Crewe, which had been free, and a massive 66% hike in the charges on Pedley Street and Railway Street with the all day fee going from £4.50 for the day to £7.50.
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Cheshire East has also confirmed that parking expense claims put in by council leader Rachel Bailey (Con) were not for council-owned car parks.
The spokesperson said: “With regards to the leader’s parking expenses claim of £364.30 over a three year period, none of these claims were for a Cheshire East Council-owned car park.”
