PARKING charges earned Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council more than £800,000 last year, figures published by the Government have revealed.

The borough council earned a total of £866,000 from its parking services in the last financial year, running from April 2022 to April 2023 – thanks to fees in council-run car parks.

The data was released by the UK Government's Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities to show how much profit each local authority in England makes from parking.

The borough council's cabinet member for strategic planning and infrastructure Cllr Andy Konieczko said that funds are "reinvested back into transport in the borough".

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This includes installing and maintaining electric vehicle chargers, subsiding public transport, and general traffic management work.

He said: “The council’s car parks offer a competitive tariff to support our position as a prime destination in which to live, work and do business. Some of our top-of-town short-stay car parks offer one hour of free parking, and we have recently scrapped parking charges at Eastrop Park and Bell Street in Whitchurch."

Elsewhere, Test Valley Borough Council's profits came below Basingstoke's at £414,000, while Winchester City Council earned Winchester City Council earned £3,727,000.

In 2020, Hampshire County Council started taking back control of on-street parking, which was previously run by district and borough councils.

The first districts to return in April 2020, were Fareham, New Forest, and Test Valley, followed by Gosport in September 2020.

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The county council took back Hart, Rushmoor, East Hants, Havant, Eastleigh and Basingstoke areas from April 2023, which means Basingstoke borough council was still responsible for on-street parking enforcement during the dates covered by the recent figures.

In October 2023, the last of the remaining parking agency agreements was returned to Hampshire by Winchester City Council.  

The updated figures for car parking revenue and expenditure held by the county council will be published in the authority’s annual car parking report 2022/23, at the end of November.