Borough drops out of nation's top ten earners in latest figures
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Hounslow Council saw a fall in parking related 'profits' in the most recent financial year according to an analysis by the RAC Foundation.
The borough made a £6.4 million surplus in financial year 2012/13 compared to £7.3 million the year before. With most other local authorities seeing an increase this year, Hounslow dropped out of the top ten earners to take ninetieth place nationally.
The fall may have been due to the bonanza received by the Council in the previous year when temporary restrictions in the Chiswick relating to the Hammersmith flyover closure led to a big increase in fines issued.
The W4 area still appear to provide a significant proportion of the surplus. In 2012/13 fines issued on Chiswick High Road alone totalled just less than 10% of the borough total. The road more than any other in the country during this period.
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 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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