Free off-peak parking in Coventry ruled out
The City Council is blaming government underfunding
Free parking in Coventry during evenings, weekends and bank holidays has been ruled out at this stage by the city council.
The authority blamed years of underfunding from the Government, saying it had no choice but to increase charges for evening and weekend parking, rather than scrapping off-peak fees like some other nearby councils.
But there will be a review of parking later this year to see if improvements in central funding since Labour came into power could allow any concessions to be introduced.
Cllr Pratiba Reddy (Cons, Wainbody) put forward a motion to a full meeting of the city council “to consider introducing free parking in Coventry city centre, particularly during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays, as a way to support local businesses”
Cllr Reddy said: “This would help increase footfall, encourage visitors to stay longer, and support the sustainability of city centre businesses, especially in light of recent closures.
“Similar approaches in areas such as central London and Leamington, where free parking is available during off-peak periods, demonstrate how targeted measures can help stimulate activity and economic vitality.”
The Cabinet member for City Services, Cllr Patricia Hetherton, responded: “In September 2023, Cabinet approved an increase to evening and weekend parking charges across council car parks and on-street locations within the city centre.
“This decision was not taken lightly. However, it was necessary to address the council’s financial pressures and to support income generation aimed at offsetting rising operational costs.
“We recognised that introducing higher charges during these periods was likely to impact certain customer groups and local businesses. Nonetheless, the measure was considered unavoidable and essential due to the financial climate at the time. The approach of aligning evening parking charges with daytime rates is consistent with practices adopted in many other towns and cities.”
She added that Coventry’s parking charges were still among the lowest in the Midlands region and despite concerns that the hike in costs would see people avoiding the city centre, this hasn’t happened.
In fact, data showed that since November 2023 more people are using the city’s car parks. “Based on this evidence, it is recommended that no changes are made to the current evening parking charges at this stage,” Cllr Hetherton said.
But officers would undertake a “comprehensive review” of parking charges later this year and will put forward recommendations on any proposed changes.
Cllr Mattie Heaven (Cons, Wainbody) questioned the response, saying neighbouring councils in Solihull Borough and Warwick District – as well as authorities further afield in the London boroughs – were still managing to offer free parking in the evenings and at weekends to support the local economy.
“So can the Cabinet member confirm why we can’t do it in Coventry whereas other councils can?”, Cllr Heaven said.
“And has any benchmarking been undertaken to compare the economical benefits of a free evening parking against relatively modest parking income generated after 6pm and at weekends?”
Cllr Hetherton replied: “When we looked at parking charges, we were in a situation that we’re all aware of in this city of the lack of fair funding for many, many years. Do you think we want to increase car park charges? We had no choice.
“Year after year, we didn’t get the proper allocation from the previous government. In the last two years, since this Government has come in, we’ve started to see a better funding result. And with that, we’ll look at it later on in the year.
“I do understand trying to encourage people to come in at night. And we all know that when they come in at night into our city, they want to park close to wherever they’re going. So I’m very aware of that.
“But at this stage, we’re only picking up after years and years and years of the lack of funding to this city.”
Cllr Hetherton added that she would obtain details of the parking revenue the council received since the 2023 price hike as well as a breakdown of data to explain what events or other factors led to notable increases in takings in February 2025 and April 2025.