The cash-strapped councils raking in the most from parking charges have been revealed in new figures showing town halls pocketed nearly £1billion in profits from the fees last year.
Official data out yesterday showed local authorities in England banked a staggering £1.95billion from parking fees, permits, fines and car park rent in 2022-23.
With operating costs stripped out, £962million of this was profit, according to the figures released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Both totals were an all-time high and it means that takings have surged above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels for the first time – with town halls now facing accusations of using drivers as ‘cash cows’.
Top of the table was Westminster City Council, with £103million in takings and £71.6million in profit. Outside London, Brighton & Hove City Council raked in the most at £45.2million, with £30.1million profit.
The totals do not include the money raked in from other charges from anti-car measures such as clean air zones and low-traffic neighbourhoods, which growing numbers of councils have been rolling out.
Parking charge takings have now surged above pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels for the first time
The data sparked fresh accusations that cash-strapped town halls are cynically using motorists as ‘cash cows’ to boost their coffers.
And critics added that it was no wonder high streets across the country are ‘on their knees’ as rising charges often drive shoppers online.
In the first place was Westminster, which took in £103million from parking charges last year – £282,191 a day or £196 a minute. Of this, £71.6million was profit.
It was followed by the neighbouring boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, which took in £53.7million (£41million profit), and Hammersmith & Fulham, which raked in £53.3million (£34.7million profit).
Outside of the capital, Brighton & Hove City Council raked in the most – £45.2million (£30.1million profit).
This was followed by Nottingham City Council, which took in £23.2million (£14.7million profit) and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council, which banked £23.1million (£13.4million profit).
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to end the ‘war on motorists’ at the Conservative Party Conference this month with a raft of measures aimed at curbing ‘over-zealous’ councils and private operators from unfairly clobbering motorists.
His ‘Plan for Drivers’ included warning town halls that they face being locked out of the DVLA database, which allows them to issue fines, if they fail to follow the rules.
Conservative MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: ‘There are some councils that are categorically taking the mickey. Some of the rates being charged are criminal.
‘Local authorities need to find ways of raising revenue, but it’s the lazy option to always draw a circle round motorists and empty them out for all they’ve got.
Councils banked £1.95billion from parking fees, permits, fines and car park rent (file image)
‘This is not least because, when you make parking prohibitively expensive, it’s the whole place that will suffer as people stop going into high streets and spending their money there altogether.
‘Councils are there to make people’s lives easier and better, not hammering them down and stopping places from thriving.’
Howard Cox, founder of the pro-motorist campaign group FairFuelUK, said: ‘These are dumbfounding local authority parking incomes and prove that even under this Tory Government, drivers remain the easiest of cash cows which continue to be fleeced relentlessly.
‘Rishi Sunak’s recent love for the motorist in a political epiphany is blown to pieces by greedy clueless town halls right across the UK.
‘It’s time the milking of drivers was halted and these punitive parking costs massively reduced to urge people to go back into the growing number of deserted high streets which are on their knees and instead spend their hard-earned cash there.’
The AA’s roads policy chief, Jack Cousens, said: ‘Once again, official statistics show that councils have turned parking into a huge cash cow, not just a service to stimulate local trade and support workers and visitors.
Conservative MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said some councils are ‘categorically taking the mickey’
‘Hikes in parking charges by councils have contributed and helped to drive more shoppers online. In effect, many local authorities are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.’
A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said: ‘Income raised through parking charges is spent on running parking services.
‘Any surplus is spent on essential transport projects, including fixing the £14 billion road repairs backlog, reducing congestion, tackling poor air quality and supporting local bus services.
‘Motorists can avoid fines by ensuring they observe parking and traffic rules that are only there to help all drivers get around and find parking safely, smoothly and fairly.’
FULL LIST OF CAR PARKING PROFITS BY LOCAL AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND
Local Authority
Profit in 2022/23
Adur
not provided
Allerdale
£1,079,000
Amber Valley
not provided
Arun
£780,000
Ashfield
-£80,000
Ashford
£121,000
Babergh
not provided
Barking & Dagenham
£10,583,000
Barnet
£10,757,000
Barnsley
£972,000
Barrow-in-Furness
-£62,000
Basildon
£164,000
Basingstoke & Deane
£866,000
Bassetlaw
not provided
Bath & North East Somerset
£7,343,000
Bedford
£170,000
Bexley
£3,760,000
Birmingham
not provided
Blaby
-£101,000
Blackburn with Darwen
£386,000
Blackpool
£4,029,000
Bolsover
-£265,000
Bolton
£1,059,000
Boston
£423,000
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
£13,463,000
Bracknell Forest
£1,167,000
Bradford
£1,927,000
Braintree
£440,000
Breckland
-£246,000
Brent
£11,317,000
Brentwood
£477,000
Brighton & Hove
£30,150,000
Bristol
not provided
Broadland
not provided
Bromley
£7,229,000
Bromsgrove
not provided
Broxbourne
£225,000
Broxtowe
-£101,000
Buckinghamshire
-£934,000
Burnley
£224,000
Bury
£772,000
Calderdale
not provided
Cambridge
£5,033,000
Cambridgeshire
-£677,000
Camden
£30,113,000
Cannock Chase
£162,000
Canterbury
£5,968,000
Carlisle
-£179,000
Castle Point
not provided
Central Bedfordshire
£582,000
Charnwood
£42,000
Chelmsford
£3,627,000
Cheltenham
£2,485,000
Cheshire East
£672,000
Cheshire West & Chester
£1,568,000
Chesterfield
£663,000
Chichester
£4,019,000
Chorley
£38,000
City of London
£10,199,000
Colchester
not provided
Copeland
not provided
Cornwall
£8,834,000
Cotswold
not provided
Coventry
not provided
Craven
£1,179,000
Crawley
-£377,000
Croydon
not provided
Cumbria
not provided
Dacorum
not provided
Darlington
£1,674,000
Dartford
£69,000
Dartmoor National Park Authority
£36,000
Derby
£3,145,000
Derbyshire
£151,000
Derbyshire Dales
not provided
Devon
£3,965,000
Doncaster
£269,000
Dorset UA
£6,203,000
Dover
£1,261,000
Dudley
-£1,174,000
Durham
-£803,000
Ealing
£16,963,000
East Cambridgeshire
-£191,000
East Devon
£3,139,000
East Hampshire
£912,000
East Hertfordshire
£1,335,000
East Lindsey
£2,025,000
East Riding of Yorkshire
£762,000
East Staffordshire
-£33,000
East Suffolk
£581,000
East Sussex
-£344,000
Eastbourne
£229,000
Eastleigh
£960,000
Eden
not provided
Elmbridge
£2,043,000
Enfield
£2,466,000
Epping Forest
£540,000
Epsom & Ewell
not provided
Erewash
£232,000
Essex
-£252,000
Exeter
£5,461,000
Exmoor National Park Authority
£26,000
Fareham
£431,000
Fenland
-£319,000
Folkestone & Hythe
not provided
Forest of Dean
-£30,000
Fylde
£432,000
Gateshead
£439,000
Gedling
-£136,000
Gloucester
not provided
Gloucestershire
£2,794,000
Gosport
£541,000
Gravesham
£862,000
Great Yarmouth
£822,000
Greenwich
£7,349,000
Guildford
not provided
Hackney
£23,349,000
Halton
-£83,000
Hambleton
£647,000
Hammersmith & Fulham
£34,693,000
Hampshire
-£140,000
Harborough
not provided
Haringey
£26,697,000
Harlow
£242,000
Harrogate
£1,220,000
Harrow
not provided
Hart
£44,000
Hartlepool
£701,000
Hastings
£1,255,000
Havant
£806,000
Havering
£5,038,000
Herefordshire
£4,612,000
Hertsmere
£307,000
High Peak
not provided
Hillingdon
£3,063,000
Hinckley & Bosworth
£41,000
Horsham
£2,655,000
Hounslow
not provided
Huntingdonshire
£987,000
Hyndburn
-£71,000
Ipswich
£1,526,000
Isle of Wight
£4,008,000
Islington
£28,663,000
Kensington & Chelsea
£41,074,000
Kent
not provided
King’s Lynn & West Norfolk
£3,343,000
Kingston upon Hull
£1,378,000
Kingston upon Thames
not provided
Kirklees
£1,712,000
Knowsley
-£403,000
Lake District National Park
£1,085,000
Lambeth
£25,941,000
Lancashire
£321,000
Lancaster
£2,127,000
Leeds
£5,325,000
Leicester
£2,378,000
Leicestershire
-£256,000
Lewes
-£35,000
Lewisham
not provided
Lichfield
£836,000
Lincoln
not provided
Lincolnshire
-£136,000
Liverpool
£3,183,000
Luton
£939,000
Maidstone
not provided
Maldon
£567,000
Malvern Hills
£76,000
Manchester
£13,286,000
Mansfield
-£489,000
Medway Towns
£4,275,000
Melton
not provided
Mendip
£1,220,000
Merton
not provided
Mid Devon
£262,000
Mid Suffolk
not provided
Mid Sussex
not provided
Middlesbrough
£546,000
Milton Keynes
£7,428,000
Mole Valley
not provided
New Forest
£1,641,000
Newark & Sherwood
£699,000
Newcastle upon Tyne
£9,527,000
Newcastle-under-Lyme
£257,000
Newham
£21,780,000
Norfolk
£246,000
North Devon
£1,721,000
North East Lincolnshire
£843,000
North Hertfordshire
£187,000
North Kesteven
£54,000
North Lincolnshire
-£270,000
North Norfolk
£11,379,000
North Northamptonshire
not provided
North Somerset
£1,883,000
North Tyneside
£2,145,000
North Warwickshire
not provided
North West Leicestershire
not provided
North York Moors National Park Authority
£369,000
North Yorkshire
not provided
Northumberland
£815,000
Norwich
not provided
Nottingham
£14,732,000
Nottinghamshire
£461,000
Nuneaton & Bedworth
not provided
Oadby & Wigston
£304,000
Oldham
£384,000
Oxford
not provided
Oxfordshire
£2,019,000
Peak District National Park Authority
£342,000
Pendle
not provided
Peterborough
£768,000
Plymouth
-£1,050,000
Portsmouth
£4,581,000
Preston
£56,000
Reading
£4,687,000
Redbridge
not provided
Redcar & Cleveland
not provided
Redditch
not provided
Reigate & Banstead
£540,000
Ribble Valley
£162,000
Richmond upon Thames
not provided
Richmondshire
£254,000
Rochdale
-£39,000
Rochford
£1,034,000
Rossendale
not provided
Rother
not provided
Rotherham
£153,000
Rugby
not provided
Runnymede
£199,000
Rushcliffe
£480,000
Rushmoor
£71,000
Rutland
£115,000
Ryedale
£518,000
Salford
not provided
Sandwell
not provided
Scarborough
not provided
Sedgemoor
£741,000
Sefton
£1,423,000
Selby
£139,000
Sevenoaks
£2,177,000
Sheffield
£5,239,000
Shropshire
£2,333,000
Slough
not provided
Solihull
£192,000
Somerset
-£32,000
Somerset West & Taunton
£2,490,000
South Cambridgeshire
not provided
South Derbyshire
-£88,000
South Downs National Park Authority
not provided
South Gloucestershire
-£544,000
South Hams
£1,742,000
South Holland
£123,000
South Kesteven
£739,000
South Lakeland
not provided
South Norfolk
not provided
South Oxfordshire
not provided
South Ribble
-£3,000
South Somerset
£664,000
South Staffordshire
-£72,000
South Tyneside
£304,000
Southampton
£4,007,000
Southend-on-Sea
£6,427,000
Southwark
£11,726,000
Spelthorne
-£188,000
St Albans
not provided
St Helens
-£69,000
Stafford
£232,000
Staffordshire
-£667,000
Staffordshire Moorlands
not provided
Stevenage
£1,909,000
Stockport
£2,465,000
Stockton-on-Tees
£123,000
Stoke-on-Trent
-£5,000
Stratford-on-Avon
not provided
Stroud
£201,000
Sunderland
£326,000
Surrey
£636,000
Surrey Heath
not provided
Sutton
£704,000
Swale
£1,304,000
Swindon
not provided
Tameside
£807,000
Tamworth
£566,000
Tandridge
£1,000
Tees Valley Combined Authority
-£3,921,000
Teignbridge
£2,741,000
Telford & Wrekin
£52,000
Tendring
£226,000
Test Valley
£414,000
Tewkesbury
£307,000
Thanet
not provided
Three Rivers
-£185,000
Thurrock
not provided
Tonbridge & Malling
£1,141,000
Torbay
not provided
Torridge
£802,000
Tower Hamlets
£14,422,000
Trafford
£1,146,000
Tunbridge Wells
£3,095,000
Uttlesford
£349,000
Vale of White Horse
not provided
Wakefield
-£372,000
Walsall
£5,000
Waltham Forest
£13,587,000
Wandsworth
not provided
Warrington
£544,000
Warwick
not provided
Warwickshire
£1,576,000
Watford
£939,000
Waverley
£3,416,000
Wealden
not provided
Welwyn Hatfield
£178,000
West Berkshire
£950,000
West Devon
£288,000
West Lancashire
£375,000
West Lindsey
-£7,000
West Northamptonshire
not provided
West Oxfordshire
-£259,000
West Suffolk
£3,101,000
West Sussex
£686,000
Westminster
£71,604,000
Wigan
£366,000
Wiltshire
not provided
Winchester
£3,727,000
Windsor & Maidenhead
£5,254,000
Wirral
not provided
Woking
not provided
Wokingham
£637,000
Wolverhampton
£697,000
Worcester
£1,687,000
Worthing
not provided
Wychavon
£828,000
Wyre
£8,000
Wyre Forest
£592,000
York
£7,135,000
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
£576,000
ENGLAND TOTAL
£962,372,000
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