Parking levy promise

Council leader Jim Logue has reiterated that his administration will not be introducing Scotland’s new workplace parking levy in their budget for North Lanarkshire next year.

Local authorities will have new powers to charge employers for providing parking spaces at their premises under the country’s newly-passed transport bill, with firms then choosing whether to pass on the cost to staff.

Airdrie Central representative Councillor Logue had told the Advertiser in February that the authority would“not indulge any abortive time looking at a workplace parking levy”, saying: “I don’t think people should pay a charge coming to work, especially in an area like North Lanarkshire where some of our villages have serious issues with public transport; I don’t think the administration wants to put in any punitive measure for staff.”

Speaking this week after the transport bill was passed at the Scottish Parliament, he said:“For next year’s budget, I’m giving the commitment that we will not introduce a car park tax as part of Labour’s proposals in February.

“We made clear this year that the car park tax was an ill-timed and ill-thoughtthrough proposal – the solution to austerity is not to tax hard-working people simply for going to work.”

He called the SNP government“completely out of touch with working people”and said:“£260 million has been cut from our council’s budget since 2007, with £100m more expected to be taken over the next three years, four times the rate at which Westminster has cut the SNP’s budget in Edinburgh. Cuts to councils are cuts to communities.”

None of the three party groups represented on North Lanarkshire Council included the workplace parking levy in their budgets for 2019-2020.

SNP group deputy leader Jordan Linden had told the Advertiser in April: “The SNP in North Lanarkshire have been absolutely clear – our budget did not mention a workplace parking levy”; and Conservative group leader Meghan Gallacher said:“We will not support a car park tax which will see hard-working Scots materially out of pocket.”