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

  • Easylux shows new Autonomous Mini retroreflectometer
    March 20, 2018
    A breakthrough in the size and capabilities of retroreflectometers is being claimed by Brazilian company Easylux with its new Autonomous Mini model. Retroreflectometers have been shrinking steadily over the decades, and a current model usually weighs about 8-10kg. However, Easylux’s model cuts the size and weight of the devices to just 2kg – “completely impossible to imagine two or three years ago”, said company founder Eng. Gustavo Felipe Paolillo. The new model is battery-powered and, once laid on a highw
  • Zipcar founder: ‘Car-dominant city has reached its zenith’
    May 23, 2018
    Zipcar co-founder Robin Chase has called on urban authorities to embrace multimodal transport in a bid to improve mobility.“The value of a car-dominant city has reached its zenith,” she says in an interview with ITS International. “The city regulatory and physical infrastructure has been built on a personal car-dominant infrastructure. We have spent the last 100 years making car travel in cities the most convenient and cheapest way to the exclusion of everything else.” That creates problems, she
  • Xerox displays latest web version of Multipark technology
    March 25, 2014
    Xerox has a major presence here at Intertraffic to showcase its latest transportation innovations in off-street and on-street parking, photo enforcement, tolling and mobility management. On display on Xerox’s stand is the latest web version of Multipark, offering fully centralised management of car parks, as well as Compliance
  • Japan to equip 5G base stations on traffic lights
    June 24, 2019
    The Government of Japan is to install 5G wireless communications base stations on traffic signals nationwide by 2025. A report by The Japan News says the project is expected to reduce costs for telecommunications service providers. As part of the project, traffic signals will be equipped with devices to measure the amount of traffic. The information sent from the stations to the vehicles is expected to support autonomous driving. Japan is not the only company looking to harness the potential of 5G. In F