Motorists see £12.5m increase in parking fines
By Patrick Sawer
Last Updated: 2:36am GMT 03/02/2008
Motorists suffer more than 40 per cent increase in worst areas, a Sunday
Telegraph survey reveals
The amount motorists are paying in parking fines is growing at nearly
four times the rate of inflation, The Sunday Telegraph has found.
Local authorities collected more than £173 million in Penalty Charge
Notices last year, up £12.5 million on the year before - a rise of 7.7
per cent.
Campaigners described the amount collected as an "excessive and unfair"
imposition on already hard-pressed drivers, adding that motorists were
being unfairly punished for the shortage of parking spaces in many towns
and cities.
The Sunday Telegraph asked all 174 local authorities in England and
Wales who have taken over parking enforcement from the police, to
disclose how much income they received last year from notices.
Our survey established that more than 25 local authorities across the
country collected more than £1 million each in parking fines last year.
Not every council replied to our questionnaire and six did not have
full-year figures, so are not included in the table. But we calculate
that with estimates and projections for those 78 taken into account, the
total collected will have risen by more than £100 million to nearly £300
million.
Paul Watters, of the AA, said the charges did not fit the crime.
"Councils keep a limit on the number of parking spaces, or even reduce
them, which in turn leads to more fines as people struggle to find
somewhere they can park legally," he said.
"And with today's busy, demanding lives, which frequently force people
to run late, there's a guaranteed stream of income for councils in the
shape of parking fines."
Mr Watters added: "What really sickens motorists is that the punishment
of parking fines does not justify the crime. If you overstay by a few
minutes you are penalised a disproportionately high amount."
The largest amount collected was in the City of Westminster, where
errant commuters, shoppers and tourists accrued more than £38 million in
parking fines. That was £7 million up on the previous year.
Next was Camden, in north-west London, which charged motorists £24.5
million in parking fines - an increase of more than £4 million since
2005/06. Three other London boroughs, Harrow, Islington and Lambeth,
increased their revenues by more than £1 million each.
In Birmingham, motorists were fined more than £5.16 million, while in
Oxfordshire more than £1.2 million was collected. But even motorists in
medium-sized towns are forced to pay out tens of thousands of pounds in
fines.
In Basildon, Essex, the council collected £227,918, up from £204,801 in
2005/6.
Fines range from £20 to £30 if paid within 14 days to £60 - or £90 - if
paid later. The number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) rose only
marginally between 2005/6 and 2006/7, from 4,856,934 to 4,914,547. That
suggests much of the increase in income comes from fines paid late.
Barrie Segal, of lobby group Appeal Now - which helps motorists appeal
against PCNs - said many drivers were convinced that parking fines were
being used by councils to raise money for town hall coffers.
He said: "That impression will remain until councils introduce a fairer
system of issuing parking fines, and a fairer system for appealing
against them."
The councils say they use parking fines as a means of controlling
congestion and ensuring roads remain clear. They point out that, under
the Road Traffic Act, 1984, they are only allowed to spend fines on
operating their street and car parking services. Any profit has to be
ploughed back into roads and transport services.
In London, the profits from parking fines fund the Freedom Pass scheme,
providing free public transport for the elderly and disabled.
Westminster Council's cabinet member for economic development and
transport, Danny Chalkley, said: "Every single penny of the surplus
income raised is reinvested into transport projects, many of which are
of a scale that could not be financed from the money raised from council
tax."
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "The Government is
clear that parking enforcement should be about helping to deliver safe,
efficient and well-managed local road networks, not a way for local
authorities to increase revenues.
"However, there is a perception motorists are sometimes unfairly
penalised. To overcome this, the Department for Transport is introducing
new measures in March to make parking enforcement even more transparent
and consistent."
• Additional reporting by Eleanor Wood
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