£60m extra from parking charges for councils this year

Research from the RAC Foundation has discovered that councils in England generated a surplus of £756 million from parking charges and fines last year.

This is £60 million higher than the previous year, representing a nine per cent increase, and a 34 per cent increase on the amount generated in 2011-12.

Calculated by taking income from parking charges and penalty notices and then deducting running costs, just 49 councils (14 per cent) reported negative figures from parking charges.

The RAC Foundation reports that the overall rise in profits is a combination of increasing income (four per cent up on the previous financial year) and decreasing costs (two per cent down on the previous financial year).

The largest surpluses were seen in the capital, with the 33 London boroughs making £332 million between them, which accounted for 44 per cent of the national total. The top three earning boroughs were Westminster (£55.9 million), Kensington & Chelsea (£34.2 million) and Camden (£25.2 million).

The biggest profits outside of London were reported by Brighton & Hove (£20.1 million) followed by Nottingham (£13.6 million) and Milton Keynes (£10.8 million).

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “These numbers might seem eye-wateringly large, but in part they reflect the growing competition for space in many of our towns and cities.

“In 1995 there were only 21.4 million cars on Britain’s roads, today there are 30.7 million. Parking charges are one of the tools councils use to keep traffic moving whilst also allowing people reasonable and affordable access to high street shops and other facilities.

“The good news is that any profit generated by councils from on-street parking must by law be spent on transport-related activities, and as every motorist knows there's no shortage of work that needs doing.”

However, the Local Government Association’s (LGA) transport spokesperson, Judith Blake, insisted that councils did not make a profit from parking.

She said: “Income from on-street parking charges is spent on running parking services and surpluses are spent on essential transport projects, such as tackling the £12 billion roads repair backlog, creating new parking spaces and providing subsidised bus travel for children or elderly residents.

"Councils are on the side of hard-pressed motorists, shoppers and businesses but have to try and strike a balance when setting parking charges to ensure there are spaces available for everyone at all times of the day and we can keep traffic moving.

"The growing demand for parking from traffic increases on our roads means parking services are playing an increasingly important role in reducing congestion and keeping pedestrians and motorists safe."