Telford & Wrekin Council's £52k from parking charges dwarfed by neighbouring authorities £2.3m
Telford & Wrekin Council made a profit of £52,000 from parking charges during the last financial year – which it says was invested back into the borough.
However, the authority made a fraction of the £2.3million Shropshire Council made in profit from parking charges.
Figures released by the government’s Department of Levelling-up, Housing, and Communities show how much profit each local authority in England makes from parking.
The figures show that in Telford & Wrekin made £735,000 in ‘sales, fees and charges’ from off-street parking fines. This was against a figure of £683,000 in expenditure.
The data covers the last financial year between April 2022 to March 2023.
Responding to the figures a spokesperson for Telford & Wrekin Council said that their parking enforcement team adopt an ‘education first’ approach.
They said: “Telford and Wrekin Council took on responsibility for parking enforcement in 2001 and adopted an education first approach to poor and inconsiderate parking by engaging, educating and where applicable issue parking tickets.
This role is carried out by a team of nine neighbourhood enforcement officers.
“The cost to fund this team has been supported by a contribution of £200,000 from the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner which ends this financial year.
“The team do not work to financial targets, instead they deliver high quality, fair and consistent neighbourhood enforcement model.
“The team works in partnership with town and parish councils, regularly patrolling areas of concern which includes attending schools across the borough daily.
“The income from parking is reinvested back into the neighbourhood enforcement model, which includes maintaining many free borough town car parks to support footfall across all our local high streets.”
Anybody found parking illegally in the borough can be issued with a penalty charge notice of either £70 or £50 depending on the severity of the contravention. There is a discount of 50 per cent for people who pay within 14 days.
The council’s website says that the enforcement officers do not have ticketing targets or receive bonuses for issuing tickets.
Of the council run car parks in the borough 24 are free of charge with pay and go charges implemented at Ironbridge, Hall Court and Dark Lane.
The council states on their website that all those car parks they currently run which are free of charge will remain free.
Along with parking enforcement in council owned off-street car parks the authority is also responsible for enforcing: double and single yellow lines, blue badge bays, limited waiting bays, designated taxi ranks, loading bays, parking in bus lanes and stops, zig-zag markings at schools (if restrictions apply) and pedestrian crossings, parking across dropped kerbs and double parking (parking too far from the kerb).
The police remain responsible for enforcing pavement parking or an obstruction if there are no road markings.
