Local authority surpluses rise more than forecast
English councils made a record £819 million from their parking operations in the last financial year.
The figure for 2016-17 is 10% higher than the £744 million made in the previous financial year.
It is 40% higher than the £587 million made in 2012-13.
And it is also £37 million above what councils themselves had forecast for 2016-17.
The findings come from analysis for the RAC Foundation by transport consultant David Leibling of the official returns that councils make annually to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
In 2016-17, the 353 local authorities in England had a total income from on- and off-street parking activities of £1.582 billion – up 6% year-on-year.
This comprised both parking charges (fees and permits) and penalty income.
At the same time, the councils spent £763 million on running their parking operations – up 2% year-on-year.
The difference between income and expenditure – £819 million – is the surplus or ‘profit’ available to be spent on transport locally.
Although most councils made a surplus on their parking activities, 46 (13%) reported negative numbers.
Once again the largest surpluses were seen in London with the 33 London boroughs making £379 million between them – 46% of the English total.
Westminster had the largest surplus in England at £73.2 million, up 31% on the previous year.
Kensington & Chelsea came second with £32.2 million (down 6%) and Camden with £26.8 million (up 6%).
The biggest profits outside of London were reported by Brighton & Hove (£21.2 million), and Milton Keynes and Birmingham (£11.1 million each).
The table below shows the 20 councils in England which generated the largest on- and off-street parking surpluses in 2016-17.
| Local authority |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
2015-16 |
2016-17 |
Ranking by 2016-17 surplus |
|
£,000s (Except all English councils total which is in millions) |
||||||
| Westminster |
39,705 |
51,037 |
46,426 |
55,875 |
73,191 |
1 |
| Kensington & Chelsea |
30,437 |
33,512 |
32,997 |
34,237 |
32,174 |
2 |
| Camden |
23,531 |
24,869 |
24,468 |
25,228 |
26,751 |
3 |
| Hammersmith & Fulham |
19,395 |
22,960 |
23,787 |
22,672 |
23,077 |
4 |
| Brighton & Hove |
16,254 |
18,090 |
18,642 |
20,075 |
21,213 |
5 |
| Wandsworth |
15,887 |
19,692 |
20,350 |
21,174 |
20,506 |
6 |
| Islington |
8,216 |
10,381 |
13,732 |
15,532 |
19,111 |
7 |
| Haringey |
5,213 |
5,700 |
16,145 |
14,917 |
14,635 |
8 |
| Hackney |
7,756 |
8,219 |
10,758 |
12,920 |
14,505 |
9 |
| Hounslow |
6,407 |
7,814 |
7,655 |
7,196 |
11,972 |
10 |
| Lambeth |
12,004 |
7,219 |
9,683 |
9,942 |
11,923 |
11 |
| Milton Keynes |
6,668 |
8,160 |
9,042 |
10,757 |
11,143 |
12 |
| Birmingham |
6,869 |
7,756 |
9,699 |
9,816 |
11,129 |
13 |
| Brent |
2,666 |
8,310 |
10,506 |
7,954 |
10,534 |
14 |
| Merton |
6,868 |
7,015 |
7,226 |
6,681 |
10,227 |
15 |
| Cornwall |
8,078 |
8,019 |
8,693 |
9,813 |
9,742 |
16 |
| Bristol |
4,222 |
7,495 |
6,053 |
7,696 |
9,537 |
17 |
| Tower Hamlets |
7,000 |
8,318 |
10,038 |
9,479 |
9,504 |
18 |
| Newham |
8,163 |
7,202 |
7,327 |
7,692 |
8,886 |
19 |
| Barnet |
813 |
7,879 |
346 |
6,703 |
8,643 |
20 |
| ALL ENGLISH COUNCILS |
£587m |
£658m |
£683m |
£744m |
£819m |
|
Note: In this year’s ranking Nottingham has fallen out of the top 20 (to number 36) because net income from the Workplace Parking Levy – £8.9 million in 2016-17 – has been excluded.
The link to the full data table – with councils listed alphabetically and by level of surplus – is to be found in Notes to Editors.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“The upward path in profits is in part a reflection of the record number of cars and volume of traffic.
“The silver lining for drivers is that these surpluses must almost exclusively be ploughed back into transport and as any motorist will tell you there is no shortage of work to be done.
“We welcome the fact that councils are increasingly investing in technology to help make parking easier and less stressful. Westminster, for example, has created an app which directs drivers to free parking bays, helping to end the motoring misery of prowling the streets looking for a space.
“We urge motorists to take the time to read their own local authority’s parking report so they can see both the rationale for charges in their area and how the surplus is being spent.”
ENDS
Contact:
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation
[email protected] | 020 7747 3445 | 07711 776448 | 020 7389 0601 (ISDN)
Notes to editors:
The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users. Charity number 1002705.
The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. All the Foundation’s work is available at: www.racfoundation.org
The full tables with local authorities listed alphabetically and by size of surplus are available here:
