Wolverhampton City Council £1m out of pocket over parking
Income from parking charges more than halved in one year, leaving Wolverhampton City Council more than £1million out of pocket, new figures showed today.
Councils in England took more than £411 million in parking charges in 2011-12 – an increase of almost 15 per cent on the previous year, the Institute of Advanced Motorists said.
But the figures show the city council bucked the trend, with the authority making only £973,000 last year, compared with just over £2m in 2010-11.
Parking charges in the city are currently frozen for two years following a cut in fees brought in last April.
The cost of an hour's parking fell from 60p to 50p at School Street, Market and Fold Street car parks while 13-week season ticket fees at Oxford Street and Church Lane fell from £90 to £80.
IAM chief executive Simon Best said councils up and down the country were making a fortune from parking.
He added: "Councils are making record-breaking profits from parking, while cutting road safety spending on life-saving services such as, education for young drivers, cycle training, and safe-routes-to-schools schemes."
The IAM figures show that the top council "earners" from parking in 2011-12 were all in London, where Westminster made £38m, up 8.7 per cent.
But in the Black Country, Walsall Council made a loss of £379,000 in 2010-11 and a further £210,000 loss last year, while Sandwell made a loss of £102,000 in 2010-11 and further £199,000 loss last year.
Dudley Council was the only authority to make more last year than the previous year, pocketing £199,000 compared to £111,000 in 2010-11. Wyre Forest made £486,000 in 2010-11 and £436,000 in 2011-12.
National figures show that the amount spent by councils on road safety, education and safe routes to schools, decreased by 18 per cent in 2011-12 to £105m.
