Surplus rises 3% year-on-year
Local authorities in Wales made a combined surplus of £14.4 million on their parking activities in the last financial year.
The figure for 2017-18 was 3% higher than the £14 million made in 2016-17.
The rise was the fifth consecutive annual increase.
Research for the RAC Foundation showed that, between them, the 22 councils in Wales had parking income of £38.5 million in 2017-18, 3% higher than in the previous year.
The income includes on- and off-street parking charges and penalty charges.
Total expenditure on running parking activities was £24.1 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 income and expenditure gives the level of surplus (or ‘profit’).
Table 1: Welsh council parking accounts summary 2017-18
| £million | 2013-4 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | Change 2017-18 on 2016-17 | |
| Parking | Income | 32.3 | 33.9 | 35.8 | 37.4 | 38.5 | 2.9% |
| Expenditure | 22.5 | 21.8 | 22 | 23.4 | 24.1 | 3.0% | |
| Surplus | 9.8 | 12.1 | 13.8 | 14.0 | 14.4 | 2.9% | |
The data, analysed by David Leibling, comes from the official standardised returns councils make to the Welsh Government annually.
