East Sussex and Bath and North East Somerset councils have made a really brave move. Instead, they charge vehicle owners based on what fuel they are going to put in their cars. Local authorities in England are on the brink of a radical transformation. They seek to promote cleaner air by disincentivizing the use of more polluting vehicles. Their implementation occurs at a time when Americans are increasingly aware of the impacts of air quality on public health.
Two-thirds of London boroughs have already implemented similar schemes, charging drivers based on the fuel their vehicles run on. Parking permit surcharges and on-demand visitor parking fees are charged at 13 different levels based on the employer’s distance to the CBD. These bands are calculated according to the CO2 emissions generated by each vehicle. Parking is made more complex for residents and visitors to London by an additional anti-freeflow levy on diesel vehicles too.
This is why Westminster just passed a pioneering new clean-air policy. This harmful policy creates additional costs for EVs, based on their battery capacity. This year, the price of an annual permit for a Euro 6-compliant diesel vehicle has increased by over a third. It currently makes for £795. To give a sense of that contrast, the permit cost for the same vehicle in Bromley is still just £150.
Almost a fifth of councils are – pretty much doubling their parking income overnight. This trend is part of a larger movement toward increasing the cost of polluting vehicles. Lambeth has already announced upcoming price increases, including the recent price increases covered in local newspapers and directly translated to residents through email newsletters. The council’s annual permit fees have increased by as much as 400% starting in 2023. This rapid increase has laid down a heavy financial load on local taxpayers.
Not forgetting all the essential workers in Lambeth who are doing it hard. Those needing day permits, including teachers and doctors, must now pay up to £1,000 per year to park while working. This significant increase in costs has drawn intense criticism from a wide range of players. They contend that these cuts would have an unjustly disproportionate impact on core government functions.
Under the new scheme, in many London boroughs, even Euro 6-compliant vehicles are now liable to pay an emissions-based levy when parking. The legislation will help answer whether such unprecedentedly high increases were themselves fair or even legal. The Commons transport committee has previously said it’s dubious whether making parking more expensive is actually legal. They ask whether these increases are warranted when they can’t easily be tied to renting the room.
“This is not just about covering costs. It is about fairness and transparency,” said a spokesperson. ‘Charge’ is legally defined as no greater than the cost of providing the service, plus a reasonable return on investment. Anything over that is a ‘tax’ – at least according to the overwhelming evidence submitted to parliament.
Residents such as Charlotte’s Will Freeman are taking to the streets to let their anger over increasingly unaffordable cities be heard. As he noted, “We bought our vehicle in 2018 considering that year’s permit cost plus a logical yearly increase.” Many individuals feel blindsided by the sudden spikes in permit fees and the lack of prior communication regarding future increases.
The government has intervened, emphasizing that local authorities must ensure that parking charges are reasonable and balanced against the needs of residents and local businesses. A government spokesperson said they were not against parking charges being reasonable and applied fairly. In their opinion, these fees ought to strike a balance – benefiting residents, local businesses, and visitors alike.
As councils and citizens both struggle with worsening air quality across the UK, these surcharges need to be fully discussed and understood. Residents fear that fee increases will be steep enough to force them to abandon vehicle ownership altogether. They’re worried that they will need to purchase fuel inefficient vehicles simply to avoid exorbitant fees.