Councils rake in £15m in parking charges in just one year

Government figures show the four Black Country authorities and three in Staffordshire brought in bumper profits from council-run car parks and on street charges, such as pay-and-display, residents' permits and parking tickets.

When the costs of running and maintaining parking services are taken into account, the councils made £5.4m in profit – the highest amount in more than a decade.

The AA has branded parking charges 'a cash cow' for local authorities, while campaigners in the Black Country have called on councils to stop the 'stealth tax' on motorists. Councils insist they are 'on the side of motorists'.

Wolverhampton Council made £3.2m in 2017-18, with profits of £1.8m. Sandwell Council brought in £2.3m, £521,000 of which was profit, and Walsall Council brought in £1.6m (£593,000 profit).

Dudley Council brought in £2.2m, but made an overall loss of £148,000 due to high maintenance costs.

According to data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Stafford Borough Council posted revenue of £2.6m – a profit of £836,000 – while Lichfield District Council brought in a whopping profit of £1.5m from its parking schemes.

Cannock Chase District Council's parking revenue was £737,000, with profits of £259,000.

Cash cow

Jack Cousens, AA head of roads policy, said: “At a time of squeezed local authority budgets, drivers are not surprised to see that they are the cash cow council bosses turn to.

“Some councils receive millions of pounds worth of parking charges every year and still continue to increase their prices.

“With the continued rise of online shopping, there may come a point where drivers decide to forgo the high street entirely.

“The cost of parking should cover the cost of providing the service, not become a stealth tax paid by a few thousand who regularly visit the town."

Councils across England made £871.5m in profits from parking in 2017-18 from £1.6bn revenue – the highest amount in a decade.

Profits were up six per cent from £819.8m in 2016/17, and have rocketed 80 per cent in a decade, having stood at £483.4m in 2008/09.

The Local Government Association said that councils were 'on the side of motorists and shoppers'.

Transport spokesman Councillor Martin Tett said: "Councils have to strike a balance when setting parking policy, to make sure that there are spaces available for residents, high streets are kept vibrant and traffic is kept moving."

He said that any income raised through parking charges is spent on running services, and that surplus is only spent on essential transport projects, such as tackling the national roads repair backlog.

He added that councils were 'leading the way in transforming the future potential of their town centres' and that parking was only a part of a successful solution.

The Federation of Small Businesses said that the rising cost of parking had deterred customers and 'put the future of our high streets in jeopardy'.