Quotas requiring local wardens to issue a certain number of fines every day will be scrapped by the end of the year, the Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government announced last night.

Speaking at a public consultation meeting at Castille, Stefan Buontempo said the quotas, which obliged wardens to give draconian fines just to secure their income, had turned the system into a “ticket-issuing machine”.

He said he regularly received complaints about bad practices. Once, the mother of a child with a disability was fined while her child was waiting in the car, which he described as a symptom of the system.

The move to scrap quotas comes as part of a reform which includes the setting up of a new agency to regulate the sector.

The agency will procure the services of wardens from the private sector at a fixed price and will also introduce quality assurance mechanisms and training.

New uniforms and a customer care service will also be introduced, as part of an effort to improve wardens’ image.

Dr Buontempo said the aim was to have a credible and sustainable system which could take on a more civic and educational role, rather than being purely punitive.

“This reform will transform wardens from Gestapo officers hiding behind trees, ready to suck the money out of citizens’ pockets, into friends of our community.”

Meanwhile, the Opposition gave notice of a parliamentary motion to repeal the legal notice that created the agency.

It argued that a centralised agency to oversee local enforcement will usurp power from local councils and goes against the principle of devolution.

PN deputy leader Mario de Marco said the creation of a centralised agency was a step backwards. Acknowledging that the current system of local enforcement was not perfect, he noted that the agency had been set up without consultation.

Opposition Whip David Agius said that any changes related to local councils had always been introduced by consensus.