Camden Council raked in £36million from parking last year

Camden Council issued 44,000 fewer fines for parking offences last year – but it still raked in more than £15million on penalty charge notices (PCNs) and more than £35million from parking overall.

Some 212,000 motorists were handed PCNs in the 2012/2013 financial year, down from about 266,000 in 2011/2012, according to the town hall’s annual parking report, which has just been published.

Those fines brought in £15.1million for the council, down £2.6million on the previous year’s figure of £17.7million.

The borough had a total parking income of £36million, compared with £37.2million the previous year, from pay and display tickets, permits, clamps, removals and fines.

That includes a staggering profit of £21.4million after parking expenditure of £14.6million is taken into account.

The surplus has fallen from £24.2million in the previous financially year – when it was third-highest in the country – but it remains at a higher level than in the four years before that.

The council says the surplus is “legally ring-fenced” to be used for transport and that it spends the money to provide concessionary fares as well as transport for schoolchildren.

Cllr Phil Jones, cabinet member for sustainability, transport and planning, said: “Because Camden is a central London borough with high traffic and parking we still make a surplus.

“The statistics from our annual parking report show quite clearly that our parking policies continue to reflect the fair and proportionate enforcement action we take.”