Parking levy is ill-thought-out and iniquitous – but no one should be exempt

In the current heated debate about the proposed Workplace Parking Levy there seems to be a misguided presumption that individual carparkers will each be “taxed” at least £500 per annum by the Scottish Government.

The charge will be levied by local authorities directly on urban-based organisations, institutions and companies that offer parking facilities at their city workplaces at an annual rate of £500 (or whatever) per parking space.

It will then fall to the levied firms to decide whether or not to pass on all or part of the cost to employees, clients and vis- itors – either by charging for the use of the spaces or by curtailing salaries accordingly.

The governing bodies are therefore able to conveniently sidestep the really difficult bit of having to deal directly with the people who rely on being able to use a workplace parking space on a regular basis.

The sheer logistics, practicalities and legalities of such a privately administered payment regime, combined with the demoralising effect it would have on the workforce, will mean that most organisations will simply have to swallow hard and absorb the extra cost at their own expense.

If this turns out to be case, not only will this fail miserably to deter commuting staff and visitors from using their cars (which is surely the supposed raison d’etre of the proposed levy) but will also put yet more pressure on small enterprises in particular by increasing overheads and reducing profit margins to the point where some may struggle to survive.

In such circumstances it would be iniquitous for larger public sector employers to be exempt from the levy, leaving the smaller private sector ones to foot the bill.

Someone desperately needs to think through the implications of this ill-conceived policy with a little less haste than it was evidently concocted by the SNP for their own shortterm political advantage.

ANDY DAVEY St Andrews Road, Peebles

As I understand it, the purpose of the ill-thought-out, or should that be not at all thought-out, parking charge is to reduce car usage, therefore reducing pollution and congestion. As far as local authority premises are concerned, I have two questions.

Firstly, will local authority premises be subjected to the charge and if not why not? Secondly, If the charge does apply to these premises will the local authority pass it on to employees? If it doesn’t pass it on the taxpayer will be left to subsidise it and the purpose of the tax will be defeated.

There is speculation as to who might be exempt. Why should anyone be exempt? The job someone does not affect the amount of pollution their car generates or how much it contributes to congestion.

There is no reason why public sector workers should be treated any differently to private sector from top to bottom, including MSPS, local authority executives and managers, directors et al. If everyone has to bite this nonsensical bullet in addition to other Scottishonly tax increases perhaps we might see a shift in voting patterns in the next election. DONALD LEWIS Beech Hill, Gifford

Dr Gerald Edwards (Letters, 9 February) says the Workplace Parking Tax may turn out to be a bad SNP idea. Time will tell, but one thing it is not is an SNP idea. This was a suggestion by the Greens during discussions over the Scottish budget.

GILL TURNER Derby Street, Edinburgh