Surplus up yet again
Councils in England have seen their parking ‘profits’ rise by almost a third (32%) in just four years.
In 2017-18, the combined surplus made by the 353 English local authorities was £867 million, up from £658 million in 2013-14.
Total income from both on- and off-street parking activity was £1.66 billion in 2017-18.
Total expenditure was £793 million. Additionally, councils may incur interest payments or depreciation on their capital assets such as car parks, though this is not accounted for in these official figures.
The difference between the two – £867 million – is the surplus or profit.
This is 6% more than the £819 million made in the previous financial year (2016-17). It is also 11% higher than the £782 million surplus that the councils themselves had budgeted for.
Analysis by David Leibling for the RAC Foundation shows that of the 353 councils which made official financial returns to central government, only 39 made a loss from their parking activities.
| £million | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2017-18 budget | 2018-19 budget | Change 2017-18 on 2016-17 | |
| On-street | Fees and permits | 435 | 472 | 483 | 542 | 578 | 7% | ||
| Penalties | 340 | 328 | 338 | 347 | 376 | 8% | |||
| Total income | 775 | 800 | 821 | 889 | 954 | 7% | |||
| Expenditure | 408 | 421 | 407 | 414 | 431 | 4% | |||
| Surplus | 367 | 379 | 414 | 475 | 523 | 10% | |||
| Off-street | Total income | 640 | 645 | 670 | 693 | 706 | 2% | ||
| Expenditure | 349 | 341 | 340 | 349 | 362 | 4% | |||
| Surplus | 291 | 304 | 330 | 344 | 344 | – | |||
| All parking | Total income | 1,415 | 1,445 | 1,491 | 1582 | 1660 | 5% | ||
| Expenditure | 757 | 762 | 747 | 763 | 793 | 4% | |||
| Surplus | 658 | 683 | 744 | 819 | 867 | 782 | 885 | 6% | |
| All England transport | Expenditure | 4,796 | 4,537 | 4,331 | 4,012 | 3,997 | 4,240 | 4,251 | -0.4% |
| Parking surplus as % of net transport expenditure | 14% | 15% | 17% | 20% | 22% | 18% | 21% |
