Local Authority

Tickets issued

• 4 out of 5 motorists never receive a parking ticket (80%)

2019-20

• Councils in London issued 3,952,118 tickets
• 0.45% were appealed - 49% won by the motorist (76% including uncontested tickets)

2018-19

• Councils in England & Wales issued 4,733,068 tickets
• 0.19% were appealed – 36% won by the motorist (61% including uncontested tickets)
• Councils in London issued 3,804,343 tickets
• Combined, councils issued 8,537,411 tickets of which 0.26% were appealed

2017-18

• 0.02% of all council parking tickets issued in England & Wales were taken to tribunal in 2017/18 – 56% won by the motorist.
• 0.7% of all council parking tickets issued in London were taken to tribunal in 2017/18 – 49% won by the motorist.
• Combined, councils issued over 8.4 million tickets in 2018 of which 0.4% were appealed.

Source: London Tribunals and Traffic Penalty Tribunal

Local authority parking accounts

Fewer than one in five councils (19.7%) make a surplus income from parking enforcement, according to a new report from leading local government think-tank, the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU).

The report also found that around half only managed to cover their costs from enforcement income and nearly a third (29.6%) made a loss.

Based on responses from 71 councils, the 'Councils in the driving seat' report suggests that ‘rather than needing to be constrained or required to report back to the MHCLG, local authorities in fact need to be emboldened and empowered to carry out their statutory requirements around traffic regulation and enforcement.’

Legislation

The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 includes provisions to control the use of parking surplus generated and these are set out in s55.  The essence of the legislation says income from all penalty charges (whether issued for on-street or off-street contraventions) plus any income from on-street parking fees and charges is subject to s55 usage; income from off-street parking fees and charges is for general use by the local authority.