Edinburgh's a great city...but!

Edinburgh's a wonderful place and I feel privileged to live and work here. The picture above was taken from my office window.

We have just played host to hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the globe. What a feat! I know the City Council has played a pivotal role in making these visits enjoyable, including the famous torchlight procession and fireworks display, and I congratulate them on all their hard work. But it's 2020 now, we are entering the second decade of the 21st centuary, and I have a gripe. The red tape involved in applying for a parking permit.

This may seem like a fairly petty first world issue. But if we can't deal better with the red tape involved in applying for a simple entitlement like a parking permit then what hope is there for the many people in our society with a much wider range of entitlements? How do they provide the necessary proofs required to gain access to their entitlements?

The new process of applying for a parking permit requires you to present a lot of information that you would have thought that the Council already knew. Or that they could quite easily acquire from other, trusted, sources within the public sector.

Below is the text of the 44 step process you need to follow to prove the (four) things that are required to get a parking permit in Edinburgh. It includes an option to allow Experian to check your address, to save you uploading paper-based proofs. Don't worry, it won't affect your credit rating. But you are always required to ferret out, scan, and upload the V5 registration document that was originally sent to you by DVLA. Why?

If (post festivities) you can't quite face reading all the text below you could relax and spend a few minutes looking at this video which explains how things could be done better. Then, if you agree with me, you could perhaps share the video with your local councillor?

Introduction

You need to prove you are the main driver of the vehicle and that you live at your address. You may need to upload:

1. Proof of address, such as; a lease, utility bill, bank or mortgage statement, Council Tax bill or medical card - no more than three months old.
2. Proof of vehicle ownership, your vehicle registration certificate V5C.
3. If the vehicle is not registered in your name, you will also need to prove that you are the main keeper of the vehicle. Please see Section 1 of the Residents' Permits Terms and Conditions for further details.
4. If you have a blue badge, you may need to enter your valid badge number or a copy of both sides of the badge.

This guide will help you to apply for a new residents’ parking permit on the Council’s new online application service: NSL Apply. 

The Process

1. Please visit the website at: https://edinburgh.nsl-apply.co.uk 1. The below screen will appear 

2. You can read about the website cookies policy, click ‘cancel’ in the yellow pop-up box in the bottom left hand corner of your screen to close the box. 

3. The following screen will appear. Enter your details in the relevant fields. Please remember your Username this will be required to login with. If you agree to the data sharing policy tick the box and then click ‘Create’. 

4. Create a new account by clicking on the grey ‘Create an account’ button. 

5. You will then be sent an email to confirm your account. In the email, there will be a link to click. By clicking the link, it will take you to the page below to set up your password. 

7. After clicking create, you will then be logged into your account and you will see the below screen 

8. To apply for a permit click anywhere on the red ‘Apply for a permit’ bar 

9. Once you have clicked this, you will see the following screen. 

10. Click on the ‘Permit category’ dropdown box and select a category from the list. Please select ‘Residential’ for a new resident’s permit. 

11. Click in the street box and a drop-down menu will appear, start typing your street name to find your street and click on it to select. 

12. If you live in a flat, start typing your flat number in the ‘Property name’ box and choose your flat from a drop-down list. 

If you live in a house with a main door number type this in the ‘Property number’ box. The property number box will only allow numbers to be entered. 

If your property has a name or contains more than just a number i.e. 12A then select your property from the drop-down list in the ‘Property name’ box. 

13. Complete the details in the Town and Postcode fields (Remembering to leave a space in your postcode) and click ‘Search’. 

14. Now click in the ‘Permit type’ box on the right hand side and select the permit you wish to apply for. This will be ‘Resident Parking Pemrit’. 

15. You should now choose whether you wish to complete your application by carrying out an address validation check which will be undertaken by Experian. (This check will be visible on your credit file and will show as being searched for by NSL Ltd, however it will not affect your credit score). 

Alternatively, you can select the option to upload supporting documentation. (If the system is unable to verify your address through the validation check you will need to upload documentation). 

16. If you choose to carry out an address validation check, enter your date of birth in the ‘Date of Birth’ box (formatted as DD/MM/YYYY) either by typing it or by clicking in the box and selecting it from the calendar as shown below. If you selected to upload supporting documentation skip to point 18. 

17. If your validation check is successful you will see an on-screen message confirming this, if not you will be asked to upload documents. 

18. If you choose to upload supporting documentation, you will need to upload a document which confirms proof of residency. 

19. To add your supporting documentation click on the ‘Upload Support Evidence’ button, the below window will open. 

20. Select ‘Proof of Residency’ from the document type drop-down list. 

21. Now click ‘Attach image’ to upload your document which will appear in the second half of the window, then click ‘Save’. 

22. A new window will open to confirm your upload has been successful, as shown below. 

23. Click the ‘Ok’ button to continue. 

24. Now click on the ‘Payment method’ drop down box and select online after approval. 

25. If you have a blue badge tick the ‘badge holder box’ in the discounts section. You will be prompted to enter your blue badge number. You must upload a copy of both sides of your badge using the ‘Upload Support Evidence’ button, by following the same procedure as shown in points 18 to 22. 

26. To register your vehicle that you want your permit to cover, click on the ‘Register a New Vehicle’ button on the right-hand side. 

27. The below window will pop up. 

28. Enter your vehicle registration into the ‘Number Plate’ box and click the ‘Retrieve Vehicle Details’ button. This will populate the Fuel Type, Make, Model and Emission Level of the vehicle. 

29.Select whether you are the registered keeper of the vehicle. You must now upload proof of vehicle ownership by clicking the ‘Upload Support Evidence’ button and follow the same procedure as in points 19 to 22. 

30. Once you have upload the file select the file in the ‘Ownership support evidence’ box and then click ‘Save’. 

31. Once added select your vehicle by clicking in the ‘Vehicle’ box and selecting from the drop-down menu. 

32. Click the slider to show this your primary vehicle. If you wish to add another registration number to the same permit (a merged permit) you should register another vehicle as per above and add this in the second vehicle box. 

33. You now need to select the date you would like your permit to start from, click on the ‘Start Date and Time’ and select a date from the calendar. Please note you cannot start the permit on the same day you are applying. 

34. You now need to choose your permit duration by clicking on the button next to the length you require. This will also display the price of your permit. 

35. Click on the ‘Terms and Conditions’ box to read them and if you agree select the agree box and then click ‘Apply’. 

36. After clicking ‘Apply’, you will return to the home page. You will see that the permit application is within the Manage Permits section of your account and the status is pending approval. 

37. You will receive an email confirming receipt of your application a few minutes later. 

38. The application will now be reviewed by our back-office team. After the permit is approved, if successful, the permit will be processed and you will receive an e-mail asking you to log back into your account to make payment. 

39. Once you have logged in under your Manage Permits section you will see your permit now has a red ‘Pay’ button on it. 

NB. If you wish to check the price of your permit or any other details before paying, please click on the red permit number starting with ‘RP’, this will take you in to the permit details, now click expand all. 

40. Click the red ‘Pay’ button, this will take you into the payment screen. 

41. Enter your card details in the relevant fields and click ‘Pay’.

42. If your payment is successful the below window will pop up, click ‘Ok’. 

43. You will now be returned to the home screen and under the Manage Permits section you will see that your permit status has changed to ‘Print’ as shown below. This means you permit is now with the back-office team for printing and posting. 

44.Once we have printed your permit, the status will change to ‘Active’ as shown below and you will receive your permit in the post shortly.