H&F Has Fourth Largest Parking Surplus

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Raises more money than Birmingham and Manchester combined

Hammersmith and Fulham Council saw parking related 'profits' of over £19 million the most recent financial year according to an analysis by the RAC Foundation.

The borough' surplus in financial year 2012/13 was the fourth largest of any local authority in England. The money raised was slightly down on the previous year but this still represents a larger sum than that for Birmingham and Manchester combined.

Overall, English councils have made another record surplus from their parking activities. In 2012-13 councils generated a combined ‘profit' of £594 million from their day to day, on and off street parking operations. This is a 5% increase on the 2011-12 figure of £565 million.

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.

The Government is currently holding a consultation to get the public's views about local authority parking enforcement.

Parking Surplus of English Local Authorities
Local	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	Ranking
Westminster	34,558	38,196	41,599	39,705	1
Kensington and Chelsea	21,765	21,130	28,148	30,437	2
Camden	10,460	21,067	24,975	23,531	3
Hammersmith and Fulham	14,071	16,649	19,504	19,395	4
Brighton and Hove	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	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
Newham	1,802	3,861	7,316	8,163	11
Cornwall	10,211	8,221	7,926	8,078	12
Hackney	1,138	4,683	5,892	7,756	13
Tower Hamlets	4,879	5,956	5,769	7,000	14
Birmingham	5,755	5,096	5,479	6,869	15
Merton	4,394	4,427	5,679	6,868	16
Milton Keynes	5,852	6,024	6,606	6,668	17
Harrow	4,179	4,722	4,601	6,485	18
Hounslow	5,091	5,988	7,255	6,407	19
Newcastle	4,741	4,559	6,707	6,275	20

Source: RAC Foundation

December 27, 2013