The Council claims national factors have heavily influenced the level of parking income being received by the Council. For example, more people are using public transport, the Olympics drained away many potential visitors to locations outside London* and rising fuel prices are making motorists think twice before making car journeys. The end result is fewer cars coming into the city and a reduction in their income. The additional parking option of SouthGate is also having an effect.

In respect of the Bus Gate, the Council has taken on board comments from members of the public and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal to make signage even clearer and warn people much earlier on that bus lanes exist. This has had a positive effect in reducing the number of people falling foul of the rules and reducing congestion in the city centre, but has also reduced the amount raised by penalty charges.**

A spokesman said: "The combination of these factors has resulted in a financial shortfall that the Council must address in order to deliver a balanced budget, protect our financial reserves and support our priorities of:

· Keeping Council Tax levels as low as possible in 2013/14, bearing in mind the impact of the recession on local communities.

· Continuing our multi-million pound capital investment in local communities to create new homes, new jobs and greater opportunities for local people.

· Protecting essential, front-line quality public services, particularly for older people and the vulnerable.

· The option of the Community Empowerment Fund explained.

"Officers are currently putting forward a range of options to elected members to address this shortfall." Presumably including ending, in the Council's own words, the anomally of the lack of parking charges in certain areas, including Midsomer Norton, Radstock etc.

This includes using unspent money from the Community Empowerment Fund that was earmarked for 'Better Local Engagement' (£105,000).***

Other allocations from the fund, such as for voluntary and community groups (£1 million), the Future Fund to support vulnerable young people (£100,000) and reducing inequality (£60,000) are not being put forward.

*Surely that should have helped Bath?

**Presumably this means the Council was originally giving visitors in particular inadequate information which led to them being fined for inadvertent transgressions of the rules.

***'Better Local Engagement' – the following description was in the Cabinet Meeting papers in May.

It is: 'Local engagement initiatives such as Participatory Budgeting (where local communities are involved in local spending decisions), work on local engagement frameworks and improved outcomes in communities through schemes such as community organisers.'