Brighton and Hove council's parking income is now almost £33m

The figure last year was £31.6 million, the Brighton and Hove City Council annual parking report said, with a surplus of £19.5 million last year from parking charges and fines.

The report said that the surplus went towards funding bus passes and subsidising some bus routes.

On-street parking generated an extra £1 million, rising to £12.4 million in 2022-23 compared with the previous year.

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Penalty charge notices were also up, with 146,190 fines issued in 2022-23 compared with 142,320 the previous year.

The report, to the council’s transport and sustainability committee, said that 52 court prosecutions were brought for blue badge misuse.

There were also 179 cases where people faced a “community resolution” for misusing a blue badge – and 267 badges were retained by enforcement and investigation officers.

Enforcement officers were visiting four schools a day across Brighton and Hove to ensure that parents and carers were observing “keep clear” signs, the report said.

The parking team was working with head teachers, police and the council’s school streets and road safety teams to discuss issues during school run times.

In the report’s introduction, Labour councillor Trevor Muten, who chairs the council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “We know from listening to residents and hearing the experiences of visitors that there is room for improving and simplifying parking in the city.

“This is why, as the new Labour administration, we have commissioned a strategic review of parking strategy and traffic management with the aim of creating a more equitable parking service for residents, visitors and businesses alike.

“We will continue to progress this work over the coming year.”

Parking permit income increased to almost £12 million, compared with £11 million the previous year, up from £8.7 million in 2020-21.

Income from penalty charges – including on-street, bus lane and CCTV enforcement – fell slightly compared with the previous year.

In 2022-23, fines totalled £8.37 million, compared with £8.4 million the year before.

After the £13.2 million cost of parking enforcement was deducted from the overall parking income, the surplus came to £19.5 million.

All surplus parking and penalty charge income must be spent on public transport, road, air quality and environmental improvements.

In 2022-23, the council spent £10.6 million on concessionary fares for older people and the disabled.

Bus route subsidies came to £1.6 million, the council spent £1.8 million on capital investment borrowing costs and £5.4 million on transport-related spending.

Almost everyone who bought a resident parking permit did so online, with the proportion reaching 99 per cent of more than 46,000 households last year, the same level as the previous year.

More than 27,000 visitor permits were bought online – and more than 27,000 people used the parking customer services phone line, the report added.

The council’s transport and sustainability committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Tuesday 6 February. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.