FOUR of Gwent's councils have collectively lost hundreds of thousands of pounds since taking over responsibility for on-street parking - despite collecting nearly £3 million in fines.

Newport is the only one of the five local authorities in the region to have made a profit from its Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) operations since Gwent Police handed control to councils in the summer of 2019.

That move gave councils the responsibility for making sure drivers obey residential parking restrictions, and handing out fines to those motorists who break the rules.

Figures published via Freedom of Information requests by the Argus show Newport City Council made more than £1.7 million from CPE over the following three-year period, and once spending on enforcement staff was deducted, the council has generated a net profit from the scheme of nearly £900,000.

But while the scheme may have been financially beneficial in Newport, the picture in the rest of Gwent is very different.

South Wales Argus: Traffic wardens near the Civic Centre in Newport.Traffic wardens near the Civic Centre in Newport.

Net losses have been reported over the same three-year period by each of the other four local authorities.

In both Monmouthshire and Torfaen, the schemes have cost their respective councils around £250,000 since they took control of CPE in 2019.

The net losses in Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly county borough, meanwhile, are more modest at around £30,000 over the three years.

It means the move from police to council-run parking enforcement has generated around £300,000 more than it has cost. But if if the income made by Newport City Council was removed, the move to council-led CPE has cost the other four local authorities in Gwent more than half a million pounds, collectively, since 2019.

A spokesperson for one of those local authorities, Torfaen County Borough Council, told the Argus that Covid has had a major impact on its CPE operations.

All of Gwent's councils postponed enforcement for several months in 2020 during the first lockdown period.

"During the height of the pandemic when traffic was greatly reduced the service was suspended with officers seconded into priority services areas such as delivering free school meals and supporting recycling collections," the spokesperson explained, adding that CPE in Torfaen is part of a "dual service" of enforcement which also covers environmental offences.

The CPE scheme had been a success, the spokesperson added.

“Officers undertake patrols all over the borough remaining responsive to resident concerns and frequently attending hot spots," they said. "This has proved successful in reducing illegal parking and the issue of fines in these areas. The service and officer patrols are not motivated by income, however, performance and standards are regularly reviewed."

The Argus contacted Gwent's other councils (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Newport) to ask them how successful CPE had been since 2019, but at the time of publication did not receive a response.