Skip to main content

FSB responds to RAC Foundation figures on 8 million local authority parking penalties issued in UK

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has responded to a report from the RAC Foundation which showed that 8 million local authority parking penalties are issued annually across England and Wales. This figure is included in the Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use - for the RAC Foundation report by Dr Adam Snow, a lecturer in criminology at Liverpool Hope University.
October 26, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has responded to a report from the 4961 RAC Foundation which showed that 8 million local authority parking penalties are issued annually across England and Wales. This figure is included in the Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use - for the RAC Foundation report by Dr Adam Snow, a lecturer in criminology at Liverpool Hope University.

Mike Cherry, FSB, national chairman, said: “Councils are cutting their noses off to spite their faces when they try to fill revenue gaps with parking charges. They would do far more to boost local growth, and their own coffers, by taking a more generous approach to parking around local high streets.

“We know that introducing permanent short-stay free parking can provide a huge shot in the arm for town centres. Doing so attracts shoppers and new businesses alike.

“With business rates hikes, flagging consumer demand and rising input costs, our small retailers have enough to worry about without their customers being put off from visiting for fear of being hit with a parking fine.   

“Local authorities should put more time and energy into supporting the small business community and focus less on parking restrictions that damage growth in the long-term”, Cherry added.

Dr Snow’s report highlighted that up to 12 million driving license holders receive a penalty notice each year. The local authority parking penalty is part of a broadly broken down figure which also showed 2.5 million local authority bus lane and box junction penalties; 500,000 late licensing and insurance penalties and; 1 million speeding and red-light penalties.

A full copy of the report can be found %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here RAC Foundation report PDF false http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/Automated_Road_Traffic_Enforcement_Dr_Adam_Snow_October_2017.pdf false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS World Congress – programme highlights webinar and executive sessions
    August 19, 2015
    Ertico-ITS has arranged a programme highlights webinar to give participants an overview of the sessions, speakers, events and activities organised for the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux. On Wednesday 4 September at 1300 CEST, senior Congress Programme advisor Eric Sampson and director of Congresses Didier Gorteman will walk you through this year’s exciting programme by highlighting some of the most engaging sessions and events of the week.
  • Detroit introduces unified bus payment system
    August 15, 2019
    Detroit authorities have launched a ticketing scheme to encourage bus ridership – a new venture which dovetails with existing initiatives to improve mobility, Ben Spencer reports The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDoT) has partnered with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) to launch a unified payment system – called Dart - for the US region’s buses. Detroit’s mayor Mike Duggan says: “Dart will bring our two systems closer together with seamless transfers and more f
  • International Making Cities Livable Conference - call for papers
    November 17, 2016
    The 54th International Making Cities Livable Conference takes place in New Mexico, USA on 2-6 October 2017, with the theme of public places for community, democracy, health and equity. Paper proposals are invited from elected officials, scholars and practitioners concerned with the issues such as active mobility, walkable ten minute commuting/reshaping suburbia, integrating public health and planning, health impact assessment and more. For more details and to submit a proposal, please see the confere
  • Deutsche Telekom shows contactless parking technology
    March 25, 2014
    Deutsche Telekom is within months of moving into full-scale operation of its new-generation contactless payment kiosks as it tests the technology with initial users. Pilot schemes are already underway for two versions of its MyWallet Kiosk system, Compact and Flexible. Compact processes any card, including those with PIN entry, while Flexible is optimised for payment schemes with contactless or EMV chip and no PIN entry.