English councils rake in £930m parking surplus in 2018-19

English councils made a total combined surplus of £930 million from parking operations in the 2018-19 financial year - an increase of seven per cent on 2017-18’s figure of £867 million and up 41 per cent on the £651 million made in 2013-14.

The 353 local authorities in England who reported their parking revenues to central Government received a gross income of £1.746 billion from on-street and off-street parking operations in 2018-19. Of this, £454 million came from penalties - six per cent more than the £428 million in 2017-18. The figures exclude the £9.7 million generated from Nottingham’s workplace parking levy and any parking revenues from national parks.

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According to figures reported to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and analysed by the RAC Foundation, £816 million was spent running council parking operations in the same 2018-19 financial year, not including interest payments or depreciation on capital assets such as car parks. 

The difference between the income and expenditure figures reveals a £930 million net operating surplus, which, if the councils were private companies, would be deemed ‘profit’. Of the 353 councils analysed, only 41 reported a net loss from their parking operations. 

As in previous years, councils in London generate the most net income from parking operations. Westminster topped the list with a net surplus of £69.2 million, followed by Kensington & Chelsea with £37.3 million and Wandsworth with £26.3 million. 

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, commented: “Every year the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government produces their tally of English councils’ income from, and expenditure on, parking.

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“Because the official numbers exclude the cost of servicing parking-related capital investment funded from borrowing, the resulting surplus of income over costs might be overstated for some councils.

“Penalties now seem to account for nearly half of all on-street parking income. What will surprise drivers is that even as parking income soars, the amount of money being spent on routine road maintenance by councils has been in reverse.”

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