Councils threaten to end free workplace parking
COMMUTERS COULD SOON be forced to pay to park at work, as authorities are considering implementing workplace parking levies (WPLS).
Currently, only businesses in Nottingham are charged a yearly fee (£458 per space for car parks with more than 10 spaces) and have been for the past decade or so. However, other areas are now looking to introduce similar schemes.
Earlier this month, the Scottish government approved legislation allowing councils to bring in the charge, with Glasgow City Council among the authorities that have expressed an early interest.
Meanwhile, Leicester City Council has been seeking views on a WPL in the city.
According to deputy mayor Adam Clarke, responsible for the environment and transport in Leicester, there are three main reasons why the council is pursuing the scheme.
“We’ve got a huge challenge in terms of city growth, there’s the health impact that comes from pollution and there’s the climate emergency and our obligations to decarbonise transport,” he said.
“We’re not anti-car.
It’s about choosing the right mode for each journey and also reducing congestion so that those who do need to use cars have an easy trip.”
If a WPL is introduced, all revenue has to be ring-fenced for improvements to public transport services.
Nottingham’s tram system has been extended using the money generated by its WPL.
Rosemary Healy, portfolio holder for transport, extolled the benefits: “Nottingham has among the highest public transport use in the country outside London. The WPL has had a 47% constraining effect on congestion growth that’s saving businesses £5.5m per year and the council £11m per year, as well as saving 7840 tonnes of carbon emissions to the benefit of the environment and residents’ health.
“No businesses have left Nottingham due to the WPL and many have invested here in the knowledge that they may have to pay it. There was early resistance from some in the business community, but we’ve had 100% compliance from day one.”
However, businesses remain to be convinced that WPLS can ease congestion in cities, with concerns about the chickenand-egg situation of taxing drivers before they have a realistic alternative.
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief Stuart Patrick said that although firms support moves to cut pollution, “there’s a lack of evidence to suggest this tax will encourage modal shift in our city, as there’s inadequate public transport provision and end users don’t automatically bear the cost”.
He warned that if the council pushes on with a WPL, “it would damage the competitiveness of Glasgow in attracting jobs and investment”.
“Taxing businesses that offer car-parking spaces for their employees simply ignores the major barriers that workers face when looking to use public transport: the lack of availability and affordability of these services,” he concluded.