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Sir Sadiq Khan has given the green light for parking fines in London to increase to up to £160.
The mayor has approved a request from the capital’s 33 boroughs to hike the cost of penalty charge notices (PCNs) in a bid to create more of a deterrent to “anti-social and obstructive parking”.
One of the biggest issues mentioned by people who responded to a London Councils consultation was the amount of parking on pavements that went unpunished.
A record 8.3m parking fines were issued in London to motorists in 2023/24 – generating millions in income for boroughs.
Under the changes approved by Sir Sadiq, all types of parking ticket issued by the capital’s boroughs will increase by £30.
Higher level charges in “band A” areas – typically inner London or suburban town centres - will increase from £130 to £160, and from £110 to £140 in “band B” areas.
Higher-band penalties apply to contraventions that are considered more serious, such as parking on yellow lines or where an obstruction is caused.
Lower level charges – which tend to be imposed when drivers overstay the amount of time they have paid to park in a car park or in an on-street parking bay – will increase from £80 to £110 in “band A” areas and from £60 to £90 in “band B” areas.
Drivers who pay within 14 days will continue to receive a 50 per cent discount.
Fines imposed parking in bus lanes and for “moving traffic” offences – such as stopping within a yellow box junction or making a banned turn – will increase from £130 to £160.
The changes will bring the highest level fines in line with Transport for London’s £160 fines for parking on a “red route” or in a TfL bus lane.
Following the mayor’s approval on February 5, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has a month to raise objections.
If agreed, this will be the first time the Government has approved an increase in London parking fines since 2010.
The previous Tory government made clear to the 33 boroughs that it would not support any increase in parking fines.
TfL increased the cost of its parking tickets from £130 to £160 in 2021.
Last week The Standard revealed that parking wardens in Ealing had come under pressure to issue a specified number of tickets per day or face disciplinary action.
The raft of new charges will enable boroughs to increase the cost of being released from a wheel clamp from £70 to £100. Releasing a vehicle from a car pound will rise from £200 to £280.
Councils will be able to charge drivers £55 per day for storing a vehicle at a car pound, up from £40.
A report considered by Sir Sadiq said in relation to the impact of poor parking: “Boroughs continue to see complaints relating to anti-social and obstructive parking increasing.
“Fifty per cent of respondents were concerned about the level of dangerous and inconsiderate parking. The largest single group of responses highlighted parking on pavements as an issue.”
Hackney council said the cost of its parking enforcement contract had increased by 57.9 per cent between 2011 and 2023.
Addressing concerns that boroughs use penalty charge notices as a “money-making scheme”, London Councils said that any net revenue had to be used for transport schemes, typically paying for the cost of the Freedom Pass that provides free public transport for older and disabled Londoners but which costs £350m a year.
Almost half of the 1,600 respondents to a London Councils consultation did not want parking fines to be increased. Most cited the financial burden that this would have on their cost of living.
But London Councils said “a PCN is meant to act as a deterrent and increase compliance levels” and improve safety and conditions for all road users.
Due to increasing issues with drivers failing to comply with parking rules, boroughs such as Brent and Hounslow became “band A” boroughs to enable them to issue higher fines.
Across London, parking PCNs have increased from four million in 2010/11 to 4.5m in 2023/24 but have often dipped below four million a year.
The total rise in PCNs has been driven by a massive increase in “moving traffic” offences that are spotted by CCTV cameras, such as banned right turns and when drivers stop in “yellow box” junctions.
These have increased form 571,000 in 2010/11 to 3.45m in 2023/24.
The Standard was told that last December, when London Councils’ transport and environment committee considered the proposed increases, Lib-Dem and Tory councillors sought to move all 33 boroughs into the “band A” charging band and to increase the highest fine to £180 and the lowest to £130.
However this was blocked by Labour councillors – heading to the £160 maximum fine and the £90 minimum being accepted as the consensus view of the boroughs.
