Council-run parking made more profit in Brighton and Hove than anywhere else in the country outside London, the RAC Foundation said today (Monday 27 November).
Brighton and Hove City Council made £21.2 million twice as much as the next two most profitably run council parking schemes.
Birmingham and Milton Keynes both made £11.1 million.
When London Council’s are included, Brighton and Hove is the country’s fifth most profitable parking operation, with Westminster first, making £73.2 million.
The RAC Foundation said: “English councils made a record £819 million from their parking operations in the last financial year.
“The figure for 2016-17 is 10 per cent higher than the £744 million made in the previous financial year.
“It is 40 per cent higher than the £587 million made in 2012-13.
“And it is also £37 million above what councils themselves had forecast for 2016-17.
“The findings come from analysis for the RAC Foundation by transport consultant David Leibling of the official returns that councils make annually to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
“In 2016-17, the 353 local authorities in England had a total income from on-street and off-street parking activities of £1.582 billion – up 6 per cent year-on-year.
“This comprised both parking charges (fees and permits) and penalty income.
“At the same time, the councils spent £763 million on running their parking operations – up 2 per cent year on year.
“The difference between income and expenditure – £819 million – is the surplus or ‘profit’ available to be spent on transport locally.”
Brighton and Hove City Council said in its annual report on parking that most of the profit went on funding concessionaire bus fares for older people.
Some of the cash paid for supported or subsidised bus routes which were regarded as socially desirable but not commercially viable.
And the rest was ploughed back into transport schemes such as the remodelling of the Seven Dials roundabout, the new layout for Lewes Road and Edward Street and the Valley Gardens scheme which is still under discussion.
The council has said that it aims to use the charges to reduce congestion, help manage traffic and ensure a reasonable turnover in vehicles parked so that local businesses can thrive.
“Profit” is a misleading word. Far and away the largest part of the money raised is used to pay for the bus passes introduced by Gordon Brown.
There is no such thing as a free bus pass.
Surely the more money the council make from parking, the less they have to bring in from council tax. It’s not like it is a private company who will be paying bonuses for all the shareholders and taking the money out of the area.
This money can only be used for traffic schemes. It can’t go into the council tax pot
If they started fining all the commercial vehicles who behave as if double yellow lines don’t apply to them, they’d have enough to reduce council tax
parking income has to be spent on transport. Can some be spent on resurfacing the roads in central brighton and central hove.. like the third world
Why don’t they build new houses that is needed in Brighton for the homeless or is it going into someone’s back pocket?
Put the money in homes for the homeless in Brighton