London councils head list of parking charge surpluses

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Parking charges are providing huge cash surpluses for some English councils, according to the RAC Foundation.

The 359 councils across England had a total current account surplus of £565m from on and off-street parking schemes in 2011-12, according to the figures.

Eight of the biggest 10 surpluses came from London councils with Westminster leading the way with a £41.6m profit.

Westminster City Council disputed many of the figures but said it would work with motorists to reduce fines.

The other two councils making the top 10 were Brighton and Hove in sixth with £14.4m and Cornwall eighth with £7.9m.

The total profit was a £54m increase on the surplus from 2010-11 and only 52 of the councils reported a deficit on their 2011-12 parking operations.

The RAC Foundation figures, produced for them by transport consultant David Leibling, are from the annual returns that councils make to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

They are based on three factors - on-street parking charges, off-street parking charges and parking penalties.

Running costs of parking operations are deducted from this total to produce the surplus or deficit figure.

While disputing many of the figures, Westminster City Council still signalled its intention to work with motorists and road users.

Councillor Daniel Astaire, Westminster City Council cabinet member for business, said: "The system is already changing and councils are already looking to work with motorists to issue fewer fines and crucially increase the amount of people parking correctly.

"Parking is about traffic management, tackling congestion and trying to implement positive benefits for businesses and high streets.

"If we stay in this Jurassic age of pure rhetoric about cash cows and money making, innovation will be stifled and we cannot engage with motorists properly in order to find the best solutions that will benefit everyone."

Kensington and Chelsea Council made the second biggest surplus of £28.1m and a spokesman told BBC London: "There is a greater demand for parking spaces in Kensington and Chelsea than practically anywhere else in the country.

"The council has discretion on how to spend any surplus that may arise, within the allowable purposes provided for by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984."

Havering Council had the second lowest figures in London, despite its surplus of £703,000 having gone up by £563,000.

A spokeswoman said: "These latest figures show our commitment to giving residents and visitors to the borough value for money, as well as showing our support for local high streets and as a result the wider economy.

"Havering has so much to offer and parking charges are a key factor in encouraging people to shop in the borough and improving trade for businesses.

"Despite being the third largest London borough, parking charges in Havering are still among the lowest in London and have stayed the same for several years. But in April this year, we cut prices even further."

Councillor Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association's economy and transport board, said: "Parking revenue is spent on paying for parking services.

"Any money left over goes towards transport services like filling potholes, concessionary travel and road improvement projects.

"As the report makes clear, many councils have to subsidise parking services as the cost is not covered by charges.

"Parking charges and fines help councils keep traffic flowing and pedestrians and motorists safe."

On Wednesday, government figures showed that money made from parking charges and fines by English councils is set to continue to rise.

The councils expect that net income from parking services is likely to increase from £601m in 2012-13 to £635m in 2013-14.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: "This municipal parking profit shows why we need to review and rein in unfair town hall parking rules. The law is clear that parking is not a tax or cash cow for town hall officers."

Last week, the High Court ruled against Barnet Council's move to raise the cost of residents' parking permits in a landmark victory for campaigners.

Mrs Justice Lang ruled that the council acted unlawfully when it increased permit costs to generate more money for road maintenance.

The council had claimed it had the power to raise extra cash through permits, and said it would appeal.

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Law firms linked to convicted private investigators

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Twenty-two law firms commissioned work from four private investigators convicted of illegally obtaining private information, MPs have said.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has published a list of the types of businesses identified as clients of the investigators.

The investigators were given jail sentences last year.

The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has been accused of failing to take legal action against the clients.

Private data

The list summarises clients identified by Operation Millipede, the inquiry into the activities of four private investigators.

They specialised in illegally obtaining information from holders of private data such as banks, utility companies and HM Revenue and Customs.

The MPs wanted Soca to name the clients but the agency refused, marking the list as confidential.

As a result the list published by the committee is a breakdown of the clients by business sector.

Law firms made up the largest proportion, and there were eight financial service companies.

The list suggested that private investigators often subcontract work to each other - 16 clients were other private investigation agencies.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry."

But the Labour MP added: "This is an important step forward in establishing the facts."

Computers seized

Operation Millipede led to the convictions of Philip Campbell-Smith and Graham Freeman who ran an agency called Brookmans International, and retired Metropolitan Police detective Adam Spears who worked alone.

A fourth defendant, Daniel Summers, was subcontracted by the others to carry out the so-called blagging of private information.

Soca seized computers during raids on the private investigators in 2009.

Evidence from these machines is now being used in another police investigation, Operation Tuleta, which is examining the illegal accessing of private information by the journalist and companies.

Soca has refused to name the clients in the Millipede case because it said that could disrupt the ongoing Tuleta inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police said it would not support the naming of suspects in such circumstances.

Soca also maintained there was no proof the clients acted illegally.

BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said proving that the clients commissioned work knowing it would breach the data protection act - the most likely charge they might face - could be difficult.

One of the clients, a solicitor, told the BBC she hired Brookmans International to track down a fraudster but insisted she did not break the law.

She said she put in writing her request to the private detectives that they do not do anything illegal.

Vital work

Much of the work of private investigators involves finding out where fraudsters have hidden stolen money or tracking down people who owe money so that civil litigation can begin.

Another law firm which uses private investigators said such work was vital because often police will not go after fraudsters.

The client list published by the committee does not appear to contain any media companies.

Our correspondent said critics of Soca argued it had failed to act on the corporate use of private investigators, while journalists who allegedly obtained private information by the breaking the law were subjected to several major police investigations.

The Millipede case is not one of the five detailed in a widely leaked report compiled by Soca in 2008 which warned of the risk of rogue private investigators.

The report was an analysis of cases that all reached their conclusion before it was written.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May is shortly expected to announce proposals that will require private detectives to have a licence to operate, barring anyone found guilty of hacking or blagging - obtaining information by using a false identity.

The Met Police said it supported the "strong regulation of the private investigation industry and a system that allows for a client to perform due diligence checks on the individual or company they wish to hire".

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UK 'losing fight' against internet crime, warn MPs

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The UK must do more to stop online fraud and deter state-sponsored cyber-espionage or risk losing the fight against e-crime, MPs have warned.

The Home Affairs Select Committee said much low-level internet-based financial crime was falling into a "black hole" and was not reported to the police.

More officers should be trained in digital crime detection and e-crime specialists protected from cuts.

The Home Office said the authorities must "keep pace" with criminals.

Publishing its first ever report on the subject, the cross-party committee said e-crime took various shapes and forms, did not recognise national borders and could be committed "at almost any time or in any place".

Offences range from attacks on computer networks and the use of viruses to steal data to the use of cyberspace to facilitate traditional crimes such as forgery, sabotage, drug smuggling and people trafficking.

'Off the hook'

The committee said it was worried by the evidence it had heard during its inquiry about the UK's e-crime fighting capability.

It said it had been told by Adrian Leppard, deputy assistant commissioner at the City of London Police, that up to a quarter of the UK's 800 specialist internet crime officers could be lost due to budget cuts.

This was despite evidence that the UK is a prime target for many of the 1,300 criminal gangs specialising in fraud.

A quarter of the gangs, many of which are based in eastern Europe and Russia, use the internet as their principal means of deception.

This, MPs said, came on top of proposed 10% cuts to the budget of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

"At a time when fraud and e-crime is going up, the capability of the country to address it is going down," the report concluded.

"Ministers have acknowledged the increasing threat of e-crime but it is clear that sufficient funding and resources have not been allocated to the law enforcement responsible for tackling it."

The committee has called for a dedicated cyber-espionage team to lead the response to reports of attacks, many of which due to their sophistication are believed to be backed by foreign governments.

Its other recommendations include:

• Requiring banks to report all e-fraud, however small, to the police
• Obliging web firms to explain data security tools to new users
• Prosecutors to review sentencing guidance for e-crimes
• Increased funding for European e-crime co-operation
• Mandatory code of conduct for removal of indecent material
• New body to report on and remove online terrorist content

Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said the UK's response to e-crime was too"fractured".

"We are not winning the war on online criminal activity," he said.

"We are being too complacent about these e-wars because the victims are hidden in cyberspace."

He added: "You can steal more on the internet than you can by robbing a bank... If we don't have a 21st Century response to this 21st Century crime, we will be letting those involved in these gangs off the hook."

'Relentless cuts'

The UK's eavesdropping centre GCHQ suggested earlier this year that 80% of cyber-attacks could be prevented by better management of information online."Crime is clearly changing, not falling at the rate the figures suggest, and an unknown but extremely high number of offences are going unreported," said Steve Williams, the organisation's chairman.Responding to Tuesday's report, the Police Federation of England and Wales said it was further evidence that recent figures showing a 10% fall in recorded crime last year were "misleading".

"It is extremely concerning that relentless cuts to policing are continuing at a time when there is a burgeoning cybercrime industry."

The government announced increased funding for cybersecurity in 2010, while a single National Cyber Crime Unit will be formed later this year as part of the new National Crime Agency.

"Crime is at record low levels and this government is taking action to tackle the cyber-threat, investing more than £850 million through the national cybersecurity programme to develop and maintain cutting-edge capabilities," a Home Office spokesman said.

"The National Crime Agency will include a new elite National Cyber Crime unit to target the most serious offenders and provide enhanced intelligence for CEOP so they can protect even more children from harm.

"But we know we need to keep pace with criminals as they target the web and so we continue to consider ways to ensure the police and security services have access to communications data."

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Energy watchdog Ofgem failing consumers, say MPs

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The energy regulator Ofgem is not doing enough to ensure that energy company profits are transparent, MPs say.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) report said the watchdog was "failing consumers by not taking all possible steps to improve openness".

The committee said that "working out exactly how their profits are made requires forensic accountants".

Ofgem said it had made energy companies produce yearly financial statements and they had been reviewed by accountants.

Sir Robert Smith, on behalf of the committee, said: "At a time when many people are struggling with the rising costs of energy, consumers need reassurance that the profits being made by the 'big six' are not excessive."

The big six are E.ON, SSE, British Gas, npower, EDF and Scottish Power.

They have different divisions to deal with the different functions of their businesses: generation, trading and supply.

The committee said that the divisions sometimes bought and sold services and energy from each other, making it difficult to work out how much money was being made overall.

"Greater transparency is urgently needed to reassure consumers that high energy prices are not fuelling excessive profits," the committee said.

Poor communication

The MPs criticised Ofgem for having a "relatively light touch approach and for not fully implementing the recommendations of the accountants it commissioned to improve how energy companies report their profits".

"Ofgem needs to use its teeth a bit more and force the energy companies to do everything they can to prove that they are squeaky clean when it comes to making and reporting their profits," said committee member John Robertson.

Ofgem agreed that the energy suppliers had been "poor at communicating with their customers".

"Ofgem has made energy companies produce yearly financial statements, which have been reviewed twice by independent accountants and found to be fit for purpose," said Ofgem's senior partner for markets, Rachel Fletcher.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said that the public would not feel that they were paying a fair price for energy until prices were simplified and the costs that went into generating them were as transparent as possible.

"We want the government to introduce simple energy pricing and a clear ring-fence between generation and supply businesses, so consumers can see exactly what they're paying for and be more confident that there is effective competition in the energy market," he said.

Fuel poverty

The Energy and Climate Change Committee also reprimanded the government for not doing enough to help low-income families struggling with fuel poverty.

The committee argued that the use of levies on fuel bills to raise funds for social and environmental programmes could end up hitting those on low incomes.

Instead, they recommended such funding be raised through direct taxation.

Sir Robert said: "Tax-funded public spending is a less regressive mechanism than levies on energy bills, which can hit some of the poorest hardest. Shifting the emphasis from levies to taxation would help protect vulnerable households."

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Archbishop of Canterbury 'furious' over Church investment in Wonga

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The Archbishop of Canterbury is understood to be "furious" after the Church of England confirmed it invested indirectly in online lender Wonga.

It comes after the Most Reverend Justin Welby told Wonga the Church would try to force it out of business by helping credit unions compete against the firm.

But the Church later said it invested in funds that provided money for Wonga.

Lambeth Palace said an independent inquiry would be launched into how "this serious inconsistency" occurred.

The amount of Church money indirectly invested in Wonga was less than £100,000 out of investments totalling £5.2bn.

Payday firms offer short-term loans, often at high interest rates, and have been accused of leading people into more debt.

Last year, the Church placed such lenders on a list of unethical investments.

This week, Archbishop Welby told Total Politics magazine he had met Wonga boss Errol Damelin and had "bluntly" told him "we're not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence; we're trying to compete you out of existence".

Mr Damelin, in response, said he was "all for better consumer choice".

But, after the archbishop's comments were widely reported, Financial Times journalists looked into the Church's own investments and discovered links with Wonga.

The paper reported that the Church's pension fund, which claims to explicitly ban firms involved in payday lending, had invested in US venture capitalists Accel Partners - a company that led Wonga fundraising in 2009.

According to BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott, the Church's investment is said to be removed from its immediate control by "several layers".

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said in a statement the Church was grateful to the Financial Times for "pointing out this serious inconsistency of which we were unaware".

The palace said the Church would be asking the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners, a statutory body independent from the Church, "to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding in this pooled investment vehicle".

"We will also be requesting the Church Commissioners to investigate whether there are any other inconsistencies as normally all investment policies are reviewed by the [Church's] ethical investment advisory group."

Archbishop Welby, a former oil industry financial executive who sits on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, has previously lobbied for a cap on high interest rates charged by loan companies.

He told Total Politics the Church could do more to help non-profit lenders to compete with payday firms and said he had "a very good conversation" with Mr Damelin.

He said of the Wonga head's response: "He's a businessman; he took that well."

Mr Damelin later said: "There is mutual respect, some differing opinions and a meeting of minds on many big issues.

"On the competition point, we always welcome fresh approaches that give people a fuller set of alternatives to solve their financial challenges. I'm all for better consumer choice."

'Social good'

Earlier this month, Archbishop Welby launched a new credit union aimed at clergy and church staff. Credit unions charge their members low rates of interest to borrow money.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We're looking at whether we can stop advertising drawing people into payday lending who perhaps shouldn't be using it”

Business Secretary Vince Cable

The BBC's Robert Pigott said the archbishop's plan was to go to some of the 500 independent loan companies and say to them "we will help you by letting you have access to our buildings and expertise".

Our correspondent said the Church would not run the companies but would help them and allow them to work on its premises.

"I think the archbishop would see this as a social good countering a social evil," he said.

Meanwhile, Business Secretary Vince Cable has backed the archbishop's plan to force Wonga out of business.

Mr Cable told Channel 5 News that the archbishop had "hit the nail on the head".

He added the archbishop was "right not just to condemn abuse but to offer alternatives which are more ethical."

Mr Cable also said that the government was considering ways of regulating the industry.

"We're looking at whether we can stop advertising drawing people into payday lending who perhaps shouldn't be using it."

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William and Kate present baby prince

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The world gets its first glimpse of the new Prince

Walking out to cheers from staff and well-wishers, Kate cradled her son and said it was "a special time".

Prince William said they were "still working on a name".

The couple then went back inside the private Lindo Wing and placed their son in a car seat. A few minutes later they came outside again and the duke drove his family home to Kensington Palace.

A small crowd had gathered outside the palace to greet them.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital earlier, the couple both said the experience was "very emotional".

William and Kate appeared relaxed and smiled as they appeared on the steps of the hospital shortly before 19:15 BST in front of a mass of photographers.

Kate handed their baby, who was wrapped in a white shawl, over to her husband and the couple walked forward to speak to reporters.

Nappy change

"He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure," William said.

"He's a big boy, he's quite heavy. We are still working on a name so we will have that as soon as we can."

He added: "It's the first time we have seen him really so we are having a proper chance to catch up."

A smiling duchess said: "It's such a special time. I think any parent will know what this feeling feels like."

Addressing the waiting crowd, Prince William said: "I'll remind him of his tardiness when he's a bit older.

"I know how long you've all been standing here so hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we can go and look after him."

They also revealed William had done the first nappy change.

Continue reading the main story

The couple emerged from St Mary's Hospital to face hundreds of photographers

Continue reading the main story

1/5

Earlier in the afternoon, the couple were visited at the hospital by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.

Prince Charles said the baby was "marvellous" while Mrs Middleton said he was "absolutely beautiful".

Speaking to reporters as she left the hospital, Mrs Middleton said: "We are so thrilled".

She added her first cuddle with her new grandson had been "amazing".

There has been no word yet on what the couple plan to name the prince and asked if she had been told or made any suggestions, Mrs Middleton said: "Absolutely not."

Prince William was at the hospital for the birth at 16:24 BST on Monday, and stayed with his wife and son, who weighed 8lb 6oz (3.8kg), overnight.

Kensington Palace said in a statement: "We would like to thank the staff at the Lindo Wing and the whole hospital for the tremendous care the three of us have received.

"We know it has been a very busy period for the hospital and we would like to thank everyone - staff, patients and visitors - for their understanding during this time."

The first public appearance of the royal baby attracted tweets from more than 18,000 people a minute, social network Twitter said.

But the figure was short of the peak of 25,300 tweets per minute on Monday night after his birth was announced, it said.

Meanwhile, the birth of the third in line to the throne was marked by gun salutes at Green Park and the Tower of London and the ringing of bells at Westminster Abbey.

And at Buckingham Palace, royal watchers and tourists queued in the rain to catch a glimpse of the bulletin - displayed on an easel - announcing the arrival of the royal baby.

The birth of the prince means the monarchy has three generations of heirs to the throne for the first time since 1894.

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