Scotland’s councils have hit drivers with more than £25 million of parking fines while “effectively legalising” dog fouling and littering, it has been alleged.
Figures obtained from the country’s local authorities showed they had issued more than 600,000 parking fines, worth a total of £25.1 million, in the 2023-24 financial year.
But over the same period, only 273 dog owners were fined for failing to clean up after their pets, with the penalties issued totalling £9,700 across the whole of Scotland.
Fewer than 2,000 people were fined for littering, with half of Scotland’s 32 councils issuing no penalties at all. Two local authorities – Glasgow and North Lanarkshire – were responsible for the vast majority of the £78,580 of fines issued across Scotland.
Overall, nearly £2,600 of parking fines were issued for every £1 of penalties for dog fouling, and around £320 for every £1 penalty for littering.
Stephen Kerr, a Tory MSP who obtained the figures, said they showed that most local authorities had “effectively legalised” littering and dog fouling.
He added councils were “all too eager to take part in the SNP’s war on motorists” by issuing 605,512 parking fines in a single year.
Local authorities insisted they were taking dog fouling and littering seriously, but noted that they were “observable offences” that required witnesses for a fixed penalty notice (FPN) to be issued.
The data were published after they imposed Scotland’s largest council tax rises for 20 years, with the average household facing a 9.6 per cent rise.
However, auditors have said they are still facing a £647 million black hole in their finances this year, thanks to public sector salary demands, the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions and “intensifying service demands”.
A report issued last week said they have attempted to compensate the shortfall by introducing more charges, hiking council tax and drawing on reserves.
But Mr Kerr said councils were not generating much money from dog fouling fines, despite being responsible for issuing them since 2002.
He said: “This data is absolutely shocking – it’s now clear that most councils have effectively legalised littering and dog fouling.
“While they’re happy to hike council tax by up to 15 per cent on hardworking Scots, they seem completely unwilling to raise a penny from those actually responsible for polluting our communities.”
He added: “In the SNP’s Scotland, it’s apparently worse to overstay your parking by a few minutes than to leave litter or dog mess on the pavement.”
Mr Kerr questioned why other councils were not following the lead of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire councils, which were responsible for 88 per cent of the littering fines issued across Scotland’s councils in between 2023 and 2024.
Glasgow issued 1,207 fines worth £48,080 and North Lanarkshire 525 penalities worth £20,880. However, the other 30 local authorities across Scotland issued only 239 fines to litter louts, generating £9,620 in revenue.
Aberdeen, Highland, Perth and Kinross and Scottish Borders councils were among the 16 to issue no littering fines at all during the year.
Glasgow city council was also responsible for the most dog fouling fines, issuing 81 penalties worth £3,340 collectively. Fife council was second, issuing 64 fines worth £1,360. However, 13 local authorities did not fine anyone for dog fouling and eight others issued five penalties or fewer.
Edinburgh city council reaped the greatest revenue from parking fines, with 174,033 penalties issued worth more than £8.1 million. Glasgow issued even more fines, receiving more than £6.3 million from issuing drivers 184,957 penalties in the city.
Among the other councils to issue more than £1 million of parking fines were Aberdeen, which hit motorists with nearly £1.5 million of penalties, and Dundee, which collected nearly £1.3 million.
Eight local authorities issued no parking fines as they rely on Police Scotland to issue penalties. The figures also did not include revenue from low-emission zones (LEZs), which operate in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
It emerged at the weekend that Glasgow’s LEZ has generated more than £1.7 million in fines from the drivers of cars that did not comply with its emissions standards, since it was introduced two years ago.
An Aberdeen city council spokeswoman said: “City wardens have been given support to help tackle dog fouling and littering following calls from citizens for increased action against offenders.
“Aberdeen city council entered into an agreement with National Enforcement Solutions, which empowers them to issue fixed penalty notices to those littering or not picking up their dog mess.”
Dawn Jamie, Fife Council’s safety communities manager, said: “Dog fouling and littering are observable offences, so to be able to issue a fixed penalty notice we have to witness the act taking place or have members of the public willing to give a formal statement to enable us to take any action.
“For dog fouling we also need to know the identity of the individual in charge of the dog at the time the offence takes place to be able to issue a fixed penalty.”
Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities did not respond to requests for comment. The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
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