Westminster parking income predicted to be up to £4m below budget

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Westminster parking income predicted to be up to £4m below budget

By Westminster Labour ⋅ July 15, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
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Conservatives plan to bring in new West End Sunday and Evening parking charges to raise an extra £5.8 million income.

Westminster City Council’s parking income is predicted to be up to £4 million below budget, according to the Council’s Strategic Director of Finance, Barbara Moorhouse, who has told Councillors:

“Our best estimate, at this stage in the financial year, is that income will be below Budget by £2-4m. You will appreciate that this may change in future months as the forecast is updated. I will keep you informed.”

At the same time, the Council is planning to impose new charges on 1st August which will mean that visitors to the West End will, for the first time, have to pay the highest parking charges in the UK on Sundays and after 6.30pm during the week. The proposed new charges have been opposed very strongly by all the churches in the West End, by West End retailers and by the Musicians Union who represent the thousands of musicians who work in the West End’s clubs, music venues and theatres and many of whom need to drive into Westminster with their instruments and kit.

In March 2011 the Council set its annual 2011/12 Budget which anticipated a £49 million surplus from its parking operations which would finance a range of highways and transport services. A shortfall of £4 million in parking income would mean that services across the Council would be under threat of further cuts, in addition to the £60 million of cuts to services over the next two years already agreed by the Council.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “The proposed new West End parking charges are nothing more than a blatant attempt to raise more money to fill the holes in the Council’s coffers. The Council thinks it can get away with this because the victims of this ‘highway robbery’ – including West End churchgoers, shoppers and musicians – don’t have the vote so they cannot kick out the Conservatives at the next Council elections. For years we have been telling the Conservatives that their policy of basing the Council’s finances on unpredictable levels of parking fines income is contrary to sound business principles and totally unsustainable. Because the Conservatives have mismanaged the Council’s finances so badly, even more front-line services could face the axe later this year.”

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