Although not all councils made a large surplus, very few lose money on their parking activities. Just 52 (15%) of the 353 parking authorities in England reported negative numbers.
The figures are calculated by adding up income from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.
Even after allowing for capital charges (interest and depreciation), the combined surplus in 2012-13 was still £460 million.
This is a 12% increase on the £412 million figure for 2011-12.
The data, studied for the RAC Foundation by David Leibling, comes from the annual returns that councils make to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The authority with the largest surplus in 2012-13 was Westminster with £39.7 million. The four biggest earners were all London authorities with only Brighton, Nottingham and Manchester breaking into a top ten dominated by councils in the capital.
|
Surplus before capital charges (£ thousands) |
|||||
|
Local authority |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
Ranking by 2012-13 surplus |
|
Westminster |
34,558 |
38,196 |
41,599 |
39,705 |
1 |
|
Kensington & Chelsea |
21,765 |
21,130 |
28,148 |
30,437 |
2 |
|
Camden |
10,460 |
21,067 |
24,975 |
23,531 |
3 |
|
Hammersmith & Fulham |
14,071 |
16,649 |
19,504 |
19,395 |
4 |
|
Brighton & Hove UA |
11,741 |
12,744 |
14,436 |
16,254 |
5 |
|
Wandsworth |
12,189 |
14,429 |
16,120 |
15,887 |
6 |
|
Lambeth |
1,542 |
7,016 |
5,831 |
12,004 |
7 |
|
Nottingham City UA |
3,271 |
3,661 |
3,251 |
11,791 |
8 |
|
Manchester |
2,869 |
1,914 |
6,325 |
8,776 |
9 |
|
Islington |
4,991 |
5,600 |
10,890 |
8,216 |
10 |
Nottingham’s surplus has grown significantly because of the introduction of the Workplace Parking Levy. If income from the levy – which is ring fenced to be spent on the city’s tram system – were deducted then the surplus would be £4.4 million.
Budgets submitted to the DCLG by local authorities suggest the surplus (before capital charges) for the current financial year will be higher still at £632m.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'It is a case of déjà vu. Once again English councils have made record amounts from parking. Yet overall spending on local roads has fallen by 9% over the past three years with road safety expenditure down by as much as 20%.
'The Government’s recent decision to consult on changes to parking rules and regulations is timely and we have always argued that at the very least all councils should publish an annual parking report to explain how much money is collected from drivers and, just as importantly, where that cash is going.
'It might be that some of the extra ‘profit’ has arisen because councils’ costs for running parking services have been reduced but drivers need to know this.
'There’s no disputing the figures we have looked at. They are the numbers the councils themselves submit to central government. What’s more, council budgets show that the surplus for the current year is set to be higher still.'
