UK national parking app to be shut down?
Wed, 26 Feb 2025
Question marks hang over a smartphone app once hailed as "the future of parking" as funding looks set to be withdrawn.
The National Parking Platform (NPP) is a government-funded scheme established more than five years ago.
Developed by the Department for Transport (DfT), it is a single parking app that aims to help drivers avoid having to download and sign up to a multitude of different parking apps.
The NPP’s technology connects "potentially thousands" of private and council parking sites into a single app.
There are at least 30 different parking apps in the UK, with the biggest including RingGo, PayByPhone and JustPark.
Established in 2019, trials of the NPP app have been taking place since 2021. The last government officially launched it in 2023, but the general election intervened before it was due for national rollout in late 2024.
Now, taxpayer funding for a pilot version is being withdrawn from the end of March.
The Guardian reports that, in a written answer to parliament, transport minister Lilian Greenwood said that although the Labour government supported the NPP concept, "we are of the view that it could and should be delivered without the need to rely on public funding."
The RAC disagrees, saying that without any government funding, it’s hard to see how any further progress can be made.
"Many people were overwhelmed by the multitude of apps they had to use, when in reality you want one that you like and you’re happy using and that you can use everywhere," says RAC head of policy Simon Williams.
The DfT says it supports the NPP and "understands the parking sector is both willing and able to deliver it without taxpayer funding. We are working closely with them on how this can be achieved," added a DfT spokesperson.
Is the driver or owner responsible for a parking fine?
