The use of any surplus is governed by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1984 which specifies that the surplus may be used for:
- (a) the making good to the general fund of any amount charged to that fund (to make good any deficit in the SPA) in the 4 years immediately preceding the financial year in question;
- (b) meeting all or any part of the cost of the provision and maintenance by the local authority of off-street parking accommodation, whether in the open or under cover;
- (c) the making to other local authorities or to other persons of contributions towards the cost of the provision and maintenance by them, of off-street parking accommodation, whether in the open or under cover;
- (d) if it appears to the local authority that the provision in their area of further off-street parking accommodation is unnecessary or undesirable, the following purposes:
- (i) meeting costs incurred, whether by the local authority or by some other person, in the provision or operation of, or of facilities for, public passenger transport services
- (ii) the purposes of a highway or road improvement project in the local authority's area
- (iii) in the case of a London authority, meeting costs incurred by the authority in respect of the maintenance of roads maintained at the public expense by them
- (iv) the purposes of environmental improvement in the local authority's area, for example:
Recycling
Refuse collection
Street cleaning
Public Conveniences
Recreational open space
Expenditure on the Countryside or Commons - (v) in the case of such local authorities as may be prescribed, any other purposes for which the authority may lawfully incur expenditure;
Income and expenditure for off street car parking
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Expenditure: Employees | £251,507 |
| Expenditure: Running expenses | £1,377,259 |
| Expenditure: Depreciation | £96,302 |
| Expenditure: Central costs charges | £427,615 |
| Total expenditure | £2,152,683 |
| Income | £4,035,945 |
| Surplus | £1,883,262 |
How we use the surplus
The net total we receive from supplying car parking services firstly helps to fund car park improvement projects then secondly helps contribute towards other council services which improve the local environment, including the following for 2023 to 2024.
| Service | Amount |
|---|---|
| Recycling | £1,376,110 |
| Refuse collection | £1,211,956 |
| Street cleaning | £1,696,073 |
| Public conveniences | £381,387 |
| Recreational open space | £878,890 |
| Countryside | £769,552 |
| Total | £6,313,968 |