Parking Infrastructure and Electric Vehicle Provision (2016–2026)
Case reference FOI2026/01429
Received 10 July 2026
Published 30 July 2026
Request
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to request information regarding the council's managed parking spaces over the last 10 calendar/financial years (from 2016 to the current year, 2026).
Specifically, for each year between 2016 and 2026 inclusive, please provide the following data broken down by year:
- Entirely Free On-Street Parking: The total number of designated on-street parking spaces within the local authority area that are entirely free of charge at all times.
- Partially Free On-Street Parking: The total number of on-street parking spaces that are free during certain hours/days (e.g., free overnight, during early mornings, evenings, or weekends) but metered or restricted (for example to resident permit-holders) at other times.
- Free Off-Street Parking: The total number of parking spaces within council-operated off-street car parks that are entirely free of charge.
- Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking: The total number of parking spaces (both on-street and off-street) that are exclusively reserved for electric vehicle charging or parking.
Response
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to request information regarding the council's managed parking spaces over the last 10 calendar/financial years (from 2016 to the current year, 2026).
Specifically, for each year between 2016 and 2026 inclusive, please provide the following data broken down by year:
- Entirely Free On-Street Parking: The total number of designated on-street parking spaces within the local authority area that are entirely free of charge at all times.
&
- Partially Free On-Street Parking: The total number of on-street parking spaces that are free during certain hours/days (e.g., free overnight, during early mornings, evenings, or weekends) but metered or restricted (for example to resident permit-holders) at other times.
&
- Free Off-Street Parking: The total number of parking spaces within council-operated off-street car parks that are entirely free of charge.
Information about Guildford Borough Council Parking is provided in our annual Parking Report and is published online – data relating to the following years can be found via the following links below:
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s64788/Parking%20Annex%201.pdf
2019/20
2020/21
https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s81985/Item%207%20Annex%201.pdf
2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=35880
2024/25
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/documents/s42661/App1-AnnParkRep24-25-FINAL.pdf
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
Information relating to 2025/26 is due for publication in the near future.
- Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking: The total number of parking spaces (both on-street and off-street) that are exclusively reserved for electric vehicle charging or parking.
I can confirm that we currently own and manage 49 Electric Vehicle charging points. I have attached a list with details of each charger, including the type of charger and the location.
Tesla has also opened a supercharger station at Guildford Spectrum car park, although please note that these are not owned or managed by Guildford Borough Council. There are 12 supercharger units and four 'free-to-use' fast chargers available.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.