Scandal of the parking lottery

Manchester Evening News
24th June 06
Ian Craig

THE cost of parking in Greater Manchester has become a multi-million pound lottery for motorists - and MPs say the system is "a mess".
Nationally, the amount of money raised by local authorities through car park fees and parking fines has increased six per cent in a year, to almost £1.2bn.
New government figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats reveal vast differences in the amount of money raised by different local authorities since 1997.

In Manchester, the figures show a drop in parking income, including fees and fines, of 61 per cent since 1997.
Every other authority in Greater Manchester has had more income from parking, with the biggest rise in Bury - where the figure has rocketed by 168 per cent.
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Alistair Carmichael has accused the government of using motorists as a "cash cow", punishing them without reducing congestion.

Administration
The Commons Transport Committee said the administration of parking enforcement by councils was too often inconsistent, with poor communication, confusion and a lack of accountability.
Chairman Gwyneth Dunwoody, MP for Crewe and Nantwich, said: "Our present parking system is, frankly, a mess."
The committee complained of unclear parking signs and lines, badly-trained staff, drivers not properly told how to appeal and parking attendants with poor communication skills.
And members called for more training, a major review of parking regulations and a sliding scale of parking fines.
However, the committee did have praise for Manchester city council.
They said it had moved from one of the worst-performing authorities - with MPs complaining of "jackbooted" parking attendants - to giving traffic wardens discretion over whether to issue a ticket.

Reduction
The Liberal Democrats say that since 1997, there has been a reduction of 61 per cent in the income from parking charges in Manchester, down to £3.2m.
The figures show how variable the cost of parking is in Greater Manchester, with increases in income from fees and fines over the nine years ranging from just 46 per cent in Bolton to the massive 168 per cent in Bury.
Income levels, according to Liberal Democrats are:
Bolton up 46 per cent to £4m,
Bury up 168 per cent to £2.6m,
Oldham up 58 per cent to £2m,
Rochdale up 57 per cent to £1.7m,
Salford up 132 per cent to £1.3m,
Stockport up 25 per cent to £3m,
Tameside up 41 per cent to £1.6m,
Trafford up 104 per cent to £2m, and
Wigan up 34 per cent to £3m.

Mr Carmichael said he wanted to know how much of the increases came from the employment of private parking contractors and how much from fines.
He said that since Labour came to power, England's parking charges had increased by a massive 82 per cent.
Fifteen years ago, local authorities were given power to take control of parking enforcement from the police and the Commons Transport Committee said while some have done so, police are still in charge in other areas - so they called for a single system of parking.
The committee said that in 2003, local authority parking attendants issued 7.1m penalty charge notices, but 20 per cent of them were later cancelled.