Councils' income from parking for the 2022/23 financial year exceeded the revenues that were gained from car parks before pandemic, according to a major motoring association.
Data from the AA revealed that the profits that councils have been making from car parking reached almost £1bn, with a surplus of £962.3m.
The figure comprised of £673.1m of earnings from on-street parking and a £289.2m surplus from off-street parking.
Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), showed that London borough councils made a significant profit of £551.3m from parking in the street for the last financial year.
In the previous financial year for 2021/22 when lockdowns were in play, profits fell to £317.6m.
In 2018/19, English councils enjoyed an excess of £936.1m, made up of £572.5m from on-street parking and £363.6m from their own car parks.
The DLUHC statistics also revealed that the total expenditure for on-street parking reached £535.2m, with London boroughs accounting for just under £300m of that outlay.
The cost of off-street parking climbed to £460.2m, where the shire districts were the most expensive for this category costing £202.7m.
Council parking ‘cash cow’
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy said: “Once again official statistics show that councils have turned parking into a huge cash cow, not just a service to stimulate local trade and support workers and visitors.
“However, the nearly £75m, or 20% cash in the surplus from car parks, must be particularly worrying for cash-strapped councils. While the Covid fallout, such as people working from home, and the economic downturn are factors in the decline, hikes in parking charges by councils have contributed and helped to drive more shoppers online. In effect, many local authorities are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.”
