Westminster Council Introduces Parking Fees Linked to Vehicle CO2 Emissions

The new payment scheme comes amid criticism of the London council’s alleged unfair treatment of drivers and using ‘environmental grounds’ for profit.

Westminster City Council has announced that new parking charges will come into effect this spring, with vehicles charged primarily based on their level of CO2 emissions.

The least polluting vehicles will be paying the least and the most polluting the most, in a payment restructure by the central London local authority.

The changes will be implemented from March 18 for pay-to-park permits and from April 1 for resident permits.

The schemes aim to “encourage the use of low-polluting vehicles” and to “nudge” drivers who park regularly in Westminster, a council with some of the highest carbon emissions and worst air quality of any national local authority.

The decision is part of the council’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2040.

It also comes amid the government’s overarching zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate that requires 80 percent of new cars and 70 percent of new vans sold in the UK to be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100 percent by 2035.

The parking scheme will “encourage” drivers to opt for “low-polluting vehicles,” the council said. The public has been invited to share its views on the proposed changes in a three-week consultation running from Jan. 25. Opposition has been expressed by officials and organizations.

Last year, AA analysis showed that council income from parking during the 2022–2023 financial year was £962.3 million.

Westminster’s Parking Service is the largest in Europe. It provides over 45,000 parking spaces, covering approximately 2,000 streets and some 600 miles of kerbside.

For EVS, the new resident permit scheme charges will be based on bands that vary from £40 a year for EVs with a smaller 1–69 kWh battery to £80 a year for EV cars with a larger battery. Drivers of petrol and diesel cars will have to pay significantly more, the council said.

The pay-to-park scheme will have six main bands, dependent upon CO2 emission levels as defined by the DVLA. Currently, EV drivers can park in Westminster for four hours by paying for just 10 minutes, for as little as eight pence an hour.

The council reported that the new prices compare favorably to those in other local authorities of London, including Camden, City of London, and Hammersmith.



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