Workplace parking levy is unfair

In the Scottish Parliament, SNP and Green MSPs controversially voted to allow councils to introduce a Workplace Parking Levy.

Based on a similar charge used in Nottingham, the levy is effectively a tax on workplaces that have 11 car parking spaces or more. Parking bays are licensed and employers are charged nearly £500 per space.

The charge is often passed on to workers who do not have decent public transport options that allow them to avoid the charge.

The levy is supposed to discourage motorists from driving to work and to promote ‘modal shift’ to public transport.

However, I am clear this Go to Work tax should not be introduced because public transport in this country is simply not good enough and is too expensive.

A fifth of all bus routes in Scotland have been axed. Abellio’s woeful management of ScotRail has seen contractual targets on performance and customer satisfaction repeatedly missed.

There are people struggling to make ends meet who do not have access to reliable or affordable public transport and who need to take the car to work.

Many of them are shift workers, some work in health and social care and in frontline services we cannot do without.

It is not a choice for them, it is a necessity. An expensive necessity, but a necessity nonetheless, that helps them earn a living and support themselves and their families. They should not be penalised for turning up to work.

This is why my Labour colleagues and I could not vote to support the levy and demanded that it be removed from new transport legislation.

It is why trades unions are warning that the Workplace Parking Levy “takes no account of affordability or fairness” and it will hit working people hard.

The business community, from wholesalers to retailers, are warning that low paid staff will see their bills rise. That includes staff on the minimum wage.

This flat tax on parking spaces paid by workers is regressive and regressive taxes hit those on the lowest incomes hardest.

The SNP and Green MSPs who supported the levy have collectively claimed £300,000 in motoring expenses from the taxpayer. The low paid workers who will lose out do not have that privilege. And Scottish Government Ministers will still benefit from being chauffeur driven to and from their work – their double standards on this issue are breathtaking.

Thankfully it appears Renfrewshire Council does not intend to use this new tax-raising power yet but that does not stop it doing so in future.

Many councils may feel they have no option to plug gaps in their budgets. Many people in Renfrewshire also commute to work in other council areas and people here could be hit hard if places like Glasgow or Edinburgh introduce the tax.

There are better ways to tackle climate change, without the unfairness of this levy.

Bringing the green jobs of the future to places like Renfrewshire, investing in energy efficiency, transforming public transport so that it is run for passengers, not for profit, and transitioning fairly to a low-carbon economy.

Across the political divide, we all want to take action on climate change and we all want to help people make the change from the car to public transport.

That cannot be achieved through regressive taxes on those who can least afford it but through investment in better, more affordable public transport.