[null, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01459/parking_1459213c.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01459/parking_1459213c.jpg", "formatted_filename": "parking c", "alt_text": "Parking charges 'could increase to counter recession' ", "rendered_width": 460, "rendered_height": 288}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03324/11783_460x100_fron_3324906a.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03324/11783_460x100_fron_3324906a.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fron a"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03593/Crufts_SUM_3593963g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03593/Crufts_SUM_3593963g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Crufts SUM g", "alt_text": "Marie Burns from County Durham with Devon a West Highland White Terrier,", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03558/coxless-summ_3558269g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03558/coxless-summ_3558269g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "coxless summ g", "alt_text": "After nine months at sea a group of female adventurers have completed one of the toughest expeditions on the planet - rowing more than 9,200 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The Coxless Crew set out on their journey from San Francisco in April, when they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and pointed Doris, their pink 29ft boat, towards Australia. ", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03555/submarine-4-way_3555327g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03555/submarine-4-way_3555327g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "submarine way g", "alt_text": "Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, one of the UK's four nuclear warhead-carrying submarines, at HM Naval Base Clyde, also known as Faslane, ahead of a visit by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. ", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03555/squirrel-bird_3555284g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03555/squirrel-bird_3555284g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "squirrel bird g", "alt_text": "National Squirrel Appreciation Day", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03532/eddie-stonehenge-s_3532960g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03532/eddie-stonehenge-s_3532960g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "eddie stonehenge s g", "alt_text": "People gather at Stonehenge in Wiltshire on the Winter Solstice to witness the sunrise on the shortest day of the year. ", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03516/Eddie-Mulholland-s_3516958g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03516/Eddie-Mulholland-s_3516958g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Eddie Mulholland s g", "alt_text": "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visiting 1st Battalion Irish Guards for the St. Patrick's Day Parade at Mons Barracks, Aldershot (2015)", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03490/outen-summ_3490717g.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03490/outen-summ_3490717g.jpg", "formatted_filename": "outen summ g", "alt_text": "British adventurer Sarah Outen becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the globe under her own steam", "rendered_width": 140, "rendered_height": 87}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03285/Progress_17__3285797f.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03285/Progress_17__3285797f.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Progress f", "alt_text": "Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station", "rendered_width": 219, "rendered_height": 137}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02626/obama_2626645f.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02626/obama_2626645f.jpg", "formatted_filename": "obama f", "alt_text": "Barack Obama warns American dream is in danger of becoming a 'myth'", "rendered_width": 219, "rendered_height": 137}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03208/oscars-summary-2_3208754f.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03208/oscars-summary-2_3208754f.jpg", "formatted_filename": "oscars summary f", "rendered_width": 219, "rendered_height": 137}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/6000155/Parking-charges-could-increase-to-counter-recession.html", "unformatted_src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03101/old-trafford_3101399f.jpg", "src": "https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03101/old-trafford_3101399f.jpg", "formatted_filename": "old trafford f", "rendered_width": 219, "rendered_height": 137}, null]


Parking charges 'could increase to counter recession'

Car parking charges will overtake council tax as a source of revenue for many local authorities as they put up prices to counter the effects of the recession, experts are forecasting. With political pressure to keep council tax rises down, they will be forced to rely more heavily on other ways to balance the books


7:00AM BST 10 Aug 2009

The cost of using leisure centres and other local services are also expected to increase while rents from council houses could also come under pressure as boroughs face possible budget shortfalls of tens of millions of pounds.

Town hall officials are bracing themselves for the possibility of deep cuts in the grants they receive from the Government in the next few years to help rebalance the nation's finances because of soaring public debt.

Some experts are predicting the biggest cuts in central funding for local government since the Second World War with forecasts ranging from 10 to 30 per cent on current levels, depending on how quickly the economy recovers.

Surveys have shown that many are already considering cutting jobs or reining in pay, but areas such as parking have been seen as prime sources of revenue in the past.

Parking, which includes income from fines as well as on-street meters, is already estimated to bring in well over £1 billion a year for Britain's local authorities.

In some, such as Westminster City Council, such revenue has aloready overtaken council tax: with on-street parking bringing in £81.5 million a year against £80 million from local taxpayers.

The borough could be the "shape of things to come", according to Prof Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, one of Britain's foremost experts on local government matters.

"Westminster is a bit unusual but it is a kind of leading indicator, other London boroughs and city centre authorities could go that way."

Cllr Danny Chalkley, Westminster City Council's cabinet member for city management, emphasised that the authority did not make a profit from parking, with all surplus income - last year worth £35 million - invested in transport projects.

As well as putting up parking charges, councils are likely to examine measures such as a higher rate for "gas guzzling" vehicles.

Although public spending is still rising, the trend is expected to reverse sharply when the current Government spending round comes to an end in 2011.

With areas such as health and education the priority, council chief executives expect local government to be among the first areas under pressure.

Forecasts prepared for the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives reportedly estimate a drop of 10 to 15 per cent on current levels.

"I would be surprised if they were not facing cuts of two or three per cent a year in real terms for a prolonged period," said Prof Travers.

"If you count that up it turns into a figure bigger than 10 per cent but it could be significantly more than that.

"And all of that depends on how fast the economy grows and whether it grows at the speed Alistair Darling says it will."

He went on: "People will probably begin to see higher charges for leisure facilities, swimming pools, possibly arts centres and so on.

"They will see higher parking charges, they may see councils trying to find new services to charge for which could include elements of refuse collection, to encourage efficiency and recycling." Crufts Dog Show in pictures National Squirrel Appreciation Day Winter solstice 2015 Capturing the news Human-powered globe trotter

