PATROL is delighted to announce Lincolnshire County Council as the winning bid in its Driving Improvement Awards programme for 2026/27.

The Awards, which focused on school parking and safety for this round, are focused on inspiring and recognising communications campaigns and activities that drive positive change – both in local areas and replicable nationally – in the delivery of and public engagement around parking and traffic enforcement services.

Lincolnshire’s winning bid

The Council’s ‘No Excuses: Safer Streets for Lincolnshire’ campaign stood out as the most creative and complete submission in this year’s bidding process. The proposal to combine drone footage and ‘child’s-eye-level’ camera work to make the risk of parking around the school gate – however harmless it may seem to parents – stark and visible was particularly compelling.

Lincolnshire also underpinned its campaign idea with a very strong evidence base, a clear plan for community and stakeholder engagement, as well as a broad range of evaluation tactics to measure behaviour change.

Finally, PATROL felt the bid offered the most replicable campaign model, particularly with Lincolnshire’s commitment to produce a toolkit for adoption by all our authorities.

Matt Jones, Parking Services Manager, Lincolnshire County Council, said: ‘We’re absolutely delighted to win. Unsafe parking around schools is a real and persistent issue across Lincolnshire and the country as a whole, and this award recognises our commitment to tackling it in a new, more impactful way.’

‘The No Excuses campaign is about putting children at the centre of the conversation and making the risks of poor parking behaviour impossible to ignore. By showing the problem from a child’s eye view and using real‑world evidence, we want to challenge attitudes, encourage behaviour change and ultimately make our schools and streets safer.’

‘We’re looking forward to working closely with schools, parents and partners to deliver a campaign that creates lasting, positive change for children and communities – not just in Lincolnshire, but as a model that can support other authorities across the country.’

Council invited to present to the PATROL Joint Committee

In a change to the Awards format this year, Lincolnshire has been invited to attend the PATROL Joint Committee Annual Meeting in London on Tuesday 14 July to present on its bid and campaign plans to PATROL members. Last year’s winners, Cornwall Council, will also be in attendance, presenting on the outcomes of their Blue Badge abuse and misuse campaign that has been running this year.

Laura Padden, Director, PATROL, said: ‘Lincolnshire County Council submitted a distinctive, considered bid to the Driving Improvement Awards this year. We are excited to work with the council to bring its creative, drone-led ‘No Excuses…’ campaign to life, before sharing the insights, learnings and output materials with all our authorities.’

Thanks to all authorities that submitted bids this year

PATROL would like to recognise all authorities that submitted bids to the Driving Improvement Awards this year. 2026/27 entries were of a notably high standard, making for a difficult final decision, and the organisation very much appreciates the time and effort those teams invested in developing their bids.