Motorists are being used as “cash cows” with parking fines seen as a lucrative source of income for local councils, despite penalties falling, campaigners have claimed.
Figures obtained by the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA), which campaigns for lower taxes, showed that the amount raised in parking fines dropped by 16 per cent last year.
The figures, which reveal for the first time the amount collected by all UK councils, show that £328 million was raised in 2008-9 – down from £379m the previous year.
The recession may have made drivers more cautious about not breaking rules, the TPA said.
But the data, supplied by 99 per cent of local authorities in response to freedom of information requests, showed some councils were still collecting the equivalent of £85 per “daytime resident” – people aged 16 to 74 who live or work in an area or are incoming workers.
Edinburgh was the highest-fining authority in Scotland with an average of £12 per person in 2008-9, compared with an average of £1.71.
Glasgow city ranked second- highest at £7.86, while Dundee city was in third place at £5.01.
Six of the ten top-charging UK councils were rated “four-star” by Whitehall – meaning they were free to spend the profits from fines on anything they wished, the TPA said.
All of the top ten were London boroughs, led by Kensington and Chelsea at £85.29 per daytime resident, followed by Westminster at £62.46 and Haringey at £57.41.
The average income for English councils was £6.14 per daytime resident.
Peter Roberts, chief executive of the Drivers’ Alliance, which jointly compiled the report, said: “Parking enforcement has become a massive money-making industry and we are seeing unscrupulous and target-driven enforcement of parking laws where the penalties far outweigh the offence.
“This report shows that some local authorities are treating drivers unfairly and cashing in on parking fines.”
Jennifer Dunn, policy analyst for both alliances, said: “For many councils parking fines have become a lucrative source of income.
“But while revenues are being made at the cost of the motorist, taxpayers haven’t seen their council tax fall or their local services improve.
“Motorists are being treated like cash cows, but the only people that appear to be benefiting are wardens and their bosses.”
Local authorities were given control of parking enforcement and the right to keep the profits in 1991.
Any surplus income from parking enforcement is usually ring-fenced for local transportation and environmental improvements.
But the authorities rated among the highest performing can spend it as they wish.
You can avoid having to pay high London parking fees by using the Tube and our text service to find free parking near tube stations outside the congestion zone. Simply text the word Parking plus the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.
Source: The Scotsman