English councils rake in £930 million profit from parking

Councils across England profited a combined £930 million in parking operations for the 2018/19 financial year, new data has revealed.

A report to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and analysed by the RAC Foundation, uncovered this figure — which is a seven per cent increase on 2017/18’s £867 million.

Combined, the 353 local authorities made a gross income of £1.746 billion from parking for the 2018/19 financial year — £454 million of which came from penalties, and £558 million from permits.

The amount spent on running council-controlled parking operations was said to be £816 million for the last financial year — a three per cent increase on 2017/18. This figure does not take into account interest payments or depreciation of capital assets, however.

Of all the 353 councils that returned figures to central government, just 41 are said to have reported a loss on parking operations.

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

“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.”