A North London council has said it will continue to pursue bigger parking fines for drivers in addition to the £30 London-wide increase announced earlier this week. The local authority has said it doesn’t want to be seen ‘as a soft touch’ with regards to illegal driving and is taking a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach.
London Councils – the collective of local government across the city – have announced that both parking and traffic penalty charges will rise for the first time since 2011 when the updated fines kick in from 7 April this year. It says the changes are necessary to ensure penalty charge notices (PCNs) ‘remain effective deterrents’ and incentivise safe parking and driving. The 32 boroughs and the City of London were concerned that charge levels ‘were not high enough to encourage compliance’.
Originally, ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ London boroughs were split into two bands, Band A and Band B respectively. Drivers in Band A boroughs pay more in fines for parking, however, over time many outer London boroughs have already moved into Band A levels. Despite the council’s bid to move up a band, which only applies to parking and not traffic contraventions, Harrow – an outer London borough – is still in Band B.
The city-wide changes mean drivers in Harrow who are issued with PCNs will pay an additional £30 from 7 April, meaning parking penalties at the higher level will go from £110 to £140 – reduced to £70 if paid within 14 days – and at the lower level from £60 to £90 – reduced to £45 if paid within 14 days. At the same time, penalties for violating bus lane regulations and traffic contraventions will rise from £130 to £160.
Since 2023, Harrow Council has been trying to be moved up a band and, despite these changes, will continue to pursue this in order to provide ‘a greater deterrent’ for motorists breaking the rules with the hope that it will ‘improve compliance’ across the borough. If the council is successful, it means parking fines will go up further – to £160 at the higher level and £110 at the lower level, reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days.
If the move goes ahead, Harrow Council expects the change to be ‘finance neutral’ as the additional income generated from the higher band PCNs would be ‘balanced by a reduction in the number of contraventions’. Hillingdon Council is also looking to move up a band.
Harrow Council Leader, Cllr Paul Osborn, said: “We regularly receive complaints from local people about illegal and dangerous parking. Fines are the way we enforce parking rules, and the increase in fines will act as a further deterrent against people breaching our parking regulations.”
He added: “It [is] worth remembering that the increase to band B fines is planned on a London-wide scale and has been signed off by the Labour Mayor of London. We made our bid to move from Band B to Band A nine months ago. We did this to ensure that our fines are in line with neighbouring councils, as we do not want Harrow to be viewed as a soft touch when it comes to illegal and dangerous parking.
“Harrow’s Conservative Council believes in a zero-tolerance approach whether it is illegal parking, fly-tipping or unlicensed HMOs. We will continue to put our residents first by ensuring parking in our borough is legal and safe.”
The Labour opposition has confirmed that it is opposed to the banding increase as there is a ‘lack of justification’, suggesting the council’s motivation for the move is down to needing to meet a £1.5m income target and claim the budget savings ‘can be made elsewhere’.
Harrow Labour Group Leader, Cllr David Perry, said: “Yet again, the Conservative-run Council are continuing to punish Harrow’s motorists with excessive £1.5m income targets, to be achieved through fines and Penalty Charge Notices aimed at our residents. In 2023, Conservative Cllrs themselves pushed to increase Harrow’s PCN banding, which was not necessary.”
He added: “I am opposed to these extra charges because the cost-of-living crisis and Conservative four-year 20% council tax increases are putting so much pressure on families and households. We urge the Council to withdraw these price increases.”
