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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.

Councils in England raking in the most from parking charges 

TOP 3 IN LONDON

Westminster City Council – £103million takings (£71.6million profit)
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – £53.7million takings (£41million profit)
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham – £53.3million takings (£34.7million profit)

TOP 3 OUTSIDE LONDON

Brighton & Hove City Council – £45.2million takings (£30.1million profit)
Nottingham City Council – £23.2million takings (£14.7million profit)
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council – £23.1million takings (£13.4million profit)

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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

Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com

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