Labour is considering proposals that could see parking fines more than double to £160 across England, sparking outrage from motoring groups and opposition parties. Ministers have admitted they are "looking into" and "carefully considering" the findings of a trial in Bournemouth, where a Liberal Democrat council was allowed to hike parking tickets to an eye-watering £160.
Currently, parking tickets issued by councils outside London are capped at £70. The proposed increase would represent a more than 128% rise, drawing sharp criticism from Conservative and Reform UK politicians, as well as motoring organizations.
Political Backlash
Conservative Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden told the Daily Mail: "A one-month trial in one seaside town, designed and run by a Liberal Democrat council, is apparently enough evidence for this Government to consider doubling parking fines for drivers across England. This is entirely about raising revenue and raiding drivers. Drivers deserve better than being picked clean on the basis of four weeks in Bournemouth."
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice added: "Why do Labour hate drivers so much? This is yet another tax on working Britain. Reform would reverse any assault on drivers."
Motoring Groups React
AA President Edmund King expressed dismay, comparing the fines to penalties for theft. "Sentencing Council guidelines direct that someone who steals up to £200 of goods from a shop or causes up to £300 of criminal damage receives a £90 fine. At what point did a driver on the school run who parks badly or an elderly person who misunderstands convoluted parking rules deserve a worse punishment than a shoplifter or vandal? Now, we have a crazy situation."
King added that councils, in their effort to fill financial black holes, have hiked parking charges so much that they have eroded the deterrence value of current fines.
FairFuel UK Criticism
Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuel UK campaign, said: "UK drivers, and of course Thursday's local voters, are fuming that parking enforcement is being pursued more aggressively than the national epidemic of shoplifting. Local authorities see motorists as a bottomless pit of easy cash to cover their incompetence in managing council budgets. Lifting the Penalty Charge parking cap is pure greed and will affect those on low incomes the hardest."
The government has not yet confirmed whether it will proceed with the proposal, but the trial in Bournemouth is being used as evidence to support the change. Critics argue that the move is a cash grab that will disproportionately affect working families and vulnerable drivers.
