A report published today by the RAC has revealed how Bath and North East Somerset profited £5 million from parking charges across the area in the past year.
The figures, analysed by the RAC Foundation show that most local authorities in England generate extra money from parking charges and fines.
In 2011-2012, local councils gained a £565 million surplus of funds from their street parking charges.
Bath and North East Somerset Council’s income has reduced over the past few years however, only pocketing £9.2 million during 2011-2012, down from a £10.1 million income during 2010-2011.
The huge sums being made from local authority parking are revealed just days after a judge declared that Barnet Council had acted illegally in trying to set charges to raise general revenue, rather than as part of its traffic management plan.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “For many local authorities, parking charges are a nice little earner, especially in the Capital.
“Not all authorities make big sums. Several run a current account deficit and indeed of those with surpluses many will see the money vanish when capital expenditure is taken into account.
“But the bottom line is that hundreds of millions of pounds are being contributed annually to council coffers through parking charges and the drivers who are paying them have a reasonable expectation to see the cash spent on improving the roads.
“In fact it is enshrined in law – as underlined by the Barnet case last week – that profits gained from on street charges and penalties must be ploughed back into a very limited number of things including maintaining the roads.”
