Questions to Candidates in Local Govt Elections

I would like to be able to ask questions on this forum which any of the prospective Councillors could pick up and answer.

I have some very boring mundane things in mind, like - following up the thread elsewhere on this forum where someone paid to have parking bays reserved for their removals van. Other vehicles parked in the reserved bays. The offending vehicles were not removed, although they received penalty charge notices. The person who was moving did not get the service they needed and had paid for. They were told by Lewisham officials that “Lewisham does not remove vehicles”.

As far as I am aware none of our existing Councillors has looked into this and come back to us on this forum to confirm the veracity of this (which is reasonable to have doubts about, since other Boroughs do remove vehicles). I would want to know from someone who is standing for election, whether they know how things work, are things working as they are supposed to, and do they have any interest in sorting out what is not working well.

The council have a webpage on suspended parking e.g. for removals:

https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/parking/carparks/Pages/temporary-suspension-of-parking-bays.aspx

Interestingly they note:
“Please note that a suspension does not guarantee that drivers will adhere to the notices which are put in place. It is Council policy not to remove vehicles in contravention of the parking regulations, and therefore the Council cannot guarantee the availability of the suspended bays.”

I’d be curious to know what they mean by ‘notices’ - are these distributed by the council? I presume they do not physically prevent other drivers from parking in the spaces?

A notice is tied to the lamp post or parking notice saying the bay is suspended. I had to ring the council on the afternoon prior to our move as none had been put up. I was then told that if someone parked there they were powerless to act. Thankfully the idiot who tried to park there as the removals lorry arrived was not as well informed and left.

Am I right in thinking that in Lewisham these are A4 sheets sellotaped to street furniture? Similar to Planning Notices? Some Boroughs have very prominent yellow SUSPENSION notices next to the info about controlled hours.

The main point here, however, is the assertion that Lewisham is

This I do not understand as we all know that other Boroughs do carry out enforcement which includes towing offending vehicles.

An explanation from an officer in Lewisham Parking Services, or from a Councillor (either current or a candidate in the upcoming election) would be appreciated.