Scottish government urged to back workplace parking tax

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Scottish government urged to back workplace parking tax

(23 posts)

Started 5 years ago by crowriver
Latest reply from I were right about that saddle

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parking parking parking parking

crowriver
Member

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Scottish ministers have been urged to introduce parking levies on firms in a bid to cut congestion and air pollution in cities north of the border. The government is due to set out its Transport Bill in the coming weeks.

Campaign group Transform Scotland published a paper of suggestions including non-residential parking levies and a ban on pavement parking. Transport Scotland said the report was "useful", adding that there had been "substantial" consultation on the bill. However, the Scottish Retail Consortium said it was "sceptical" about parking levies, saying they would be "yet another tax on firms which they can ill afford".

The legislation, expected to include a series of measures aimed at improving public transport, is expected to be tabled before Holyrood goes into recess for the summer at the end of June.

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Continues (with mention of pavement parking) here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-44354925

Posted 5 years ago #
Morningsider
Member

"A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: "The Transport (Scotland) Bill, which will be introduced before the parliamentary recess, is informed through a substantial process of public engagement and consultation where many stakeholders including Transform Scotland have previously shared their views."

The Scottish Government has ran the following consultations:

Local Bus Services in Scotland – Improving the Framework for Delivery.
Improving Parking in Scotland.
Raising Standards and Improving the Quality of Road Works in Scotland.
The Future of Smart Ticketing in Scotland.

The TS spokesperson is saying that "If we haven't consulted on it, then it isn't going to be in the Bill" - although I understand a couple of minor additional issues might also make an appearance.

Posted 5 years ago #
mgj
Member

How is this going to cost firms more? Surely it is only their staff who decide to drive who pay the levy, not those who cycle or use public transport. Or did they consult with that option?

And pavement parking has been consulted on in the response to the legislation previously brought forward.

Posted 5 years ago #
Ed1
Member

Scottish government are one of the worst offenders air strip of free parking at the quay

Posted 5 years ago #
Morningsider
Member

My last post wasn't very clear. A workplace parking levy won't be in the Bill. The Scottish Government does not (currently?) support this idea and has not consulted on it.

Posted 5 years ago #
mgj
Member

@Ed1, when the SG moved to VQ, with fewer staff than are currently in the building, parking was part of the sweetener, given so many were travelling significant distances and public transport was poor. It was a huge gap site so adding parking wasn't taking away from anything else. The site at Haymarket would have been a much better option for active transport (which is the one staff chose) and VQ wasn't one of the options offered, a late political choice to kick off regeneration in the area. They are about to lose their view of the sea.

Posted 5 years ago #
Ed1
Member

Well back in what 1995 policy may have been somewhat different. However in 2018 it may be better if they sold off the parking or made it in to gardern, good transport links now and it causes needless congestion in leith, ands most importantly not setting a good example. If the MSPS and policy advisors have an air strip to park on may impact on thinking. Always think leadership is about setting an example leading fromn the front. I know british/scottish senior poltics mps msps and british/scottish senior officals are possibly considered worse than average, adverse selection, possibly if every one lived like a government country would be overcome with corruption and collapse, however as an ideal, going forward should aim to set the standard.

In the mid 90s it may have been a run down area that required a sweetner of good parking but today one of the nicer areas of edinburgh. The huge gap may have some value for something else but even if did not does not entirely fit with current thinking.

Posted 5 years ago #
minus six
Member

tangentially how about a ban on commercial liveried vans parked overnight in residential streets

if yer running a business from home then pay extra tax on the commercial parking, otherwise, those vehicles should be parked at their employers expense on their own land

or would that be an unjustified attack on hardworking families livelihoods and their inalienable right to park anywhere they feel like etc

Posted 5 years ago #
crowriver
Member

"tangentially how about a ban on commercial liveried vans parked overnight in residential streets"

Yep!

Posted 5 years ago #
Arellcat
Moderator

it causes needless congestion in leith, and most importantly not setting a good example.

The SG car park isn't the whole story. If the SG were to close its car park, it would only reduce the availability of free parking. Ocean Terminal would have to reinstate its toll barriers if the policy were to be fully effective.

Where I work, the demand for parking is so high that all of the surrounding streets – where people live and their own cars are often parked – are completely full during the day, and are consequently prone to congestion because the road capacity is halved. It also makes the roads less safe because cars are parked on street corners as well, despite DYLs, so sightlines and crossing points are awkward.

"tangentially how about a ban on commercial liveried vans parked overnight in residential streets"

What about unliveried commercial vehicles? There's a Transit-based one-car-carrying low loader flatbed thing that is frequently parked near where I used to live. It's a great big machine and takes up two whole car lengths at minimum. The owner has taken to parking it on the main 40mph road a quarter of a mile away. I know this because almost every time I cycle home I have to pull out into the offside lane to overtake it. I particularly like how the public highway is treated as a convenient dumping ground for vehicles.

Posted 5 years ago #
Stickman
Member

SNP MSP is opposed:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/christine-grahame-why-is-parking-so-difficult-in-edinburgh-1-4750460

I have no problem with banning pavement parking with exceptions say for emergency vehicles but to charge firms for “free” employee parking is a bit rich.

I represent part of the Borders and Midlothian and some of my constituents do commute to work in Edinburgh and some will have no option but to use a car.

Why should their firm be penalised by providing parking for them? Let’s park that idea for a start.

I don't have much confidence that she has given the idea any thought whatsoever other than "need parking!"

Posted 5 years ago #
Ed1
Member

Possibly but as arelcat mentioned if employers got rid of parking may make streets more cluttered

Posted 5 years ago #
steveo
Member

I can agree with arellcat, my old house behind Saughton House was a nightmare after the DVLA moved out. More than once my wife had to walk a good 15 minutes with the kids and shopping because someone couldn't be bothered to take the train/tram/22.

Posted 5 years ago #
Ed1
Member

Those people saughton house people should be moved to saughton big house

Posted 5 years ago #
acsimpson
Member

Perhaps CEC should expand the permit zones so they don't just protect those who can afford City Centre houses. Put controlled zones in every street in the city so that only those with a licence to park can do so.

Posted 5 years ago #
urchaidh
Member

Use of an employer provided car parking space is a benefit in kind and should be taxed as such. Currently, free workplace parking is just another way in which we all subsidise people who choose to drive to work. If my employer contributed to my bus/rail fares I would have to pay tax on that, though I did get tax relief on my new bike.

If you simply charge the business for having spaces, the costs will be passed on to everyone and we still end up subsidising car commuters. The only mitigation for this would be ring fencing the money for active/public transport improvements.

Taxing it at a personal level is required to make people pay and appreciate the direct cost to themselves, but it seems to me impossible to do in a practical way, which is a shame.

Posted 5 years ago #
remberbuck
Member

@urchaidh, you quite correctly point out the administrative problems in enforcing compliance of employer provided workplace parking.

Additionally, the amount of tax and duty it would produce is minimal. To my knowledge there have been two serious attempts to raise additional revenue by extending the employment benefits code to such parking, both pre and post self assessment.

The difficulty is the basis of charge. This is on the cost of provision to the employer. So it is not a case of saying local street parking is €3 quid an hour, so you have a weekly benefit of €120. Rather the charge is on the cost of providing that particular rectangle of tarmac to the employer.

Given the complexity of commercial land ownership the multiplicity of difficulties are obvious, but even on a rough measure based on rateable value, the answer is buttons. And that is before you get to exemptions and partial use.

Most employers would deal with this through payroll, and be encouraged by HMRC to do so. Thus any benefit would almost always be invisible to the employee.

Posted 5 years ago #
ih
Member

"
Additionally, the amount of tax and duty it would produce is minimal.
"

On the contrary, the workspace parking levy has been a great success in Nottingham and funnelled £millions into public transport including expanding the Nottingham tram system.

Posted 5 years ago #
remberbuck
Member

@in, I don't doubt the success of the Nottingham scheme, but do wonder why it has not spread much further afield.

My point was on the difficulties for national taxation, as raised by @urchaidh. It was because of these that local authorities were encouraged to think of levies.

National government will not countenance tax revenue hypothecation in the way you say Nottingham have been able to do with trams and their parking levy.

Posted 5 years ago #
PS
Member

Did some research on the Nottingham scheme for work a while back.

IIRC, it raised something like £50m over 5 years, which is not insignificant. That revenue is ring-fenced (by law, I think) for transport schemes and the council uses it to unlock more cash from match funding from DfT, so it's contributed to the tram extension, rail station redevelopment, electric buses, real-time bus info. As part of a carrot/stick approach, there are also grants available to employers to invest in things that will help them reduce the number of car parking spaces they have (inc cycle parking, showers etc). Employers consider the levy as part of their overall costs, and they can't simply pass these on to customers if they work in a price-sensitive sector. However, I don't think there was any evidence of any employers upping sticks and moving elsewhere as a result (as a few cry wolf types claimed before it was introduced).

Seems like a good idea to me.

Posted 5 years ago #
LivM
Member

I work in the suburbs and we have a 200+space car park, where you only get a space if you're in a car share group (1000 or so people in the office). There's also a public pay and display car park over the road with fixed price £2.50 for a day. I would think that £2 a day for the office car park would be reasonable, especially if you're in a car share group to split the costs. But if anyone tried to introduce charging there would be a total uproar and people would start parking their cars on the streets (although you can't park very nearby as it's all double yellows in the vicinity).

Posted 5 years ago #
ih
Member

@remberbuck I don't understand your tax and duty point - my fault I'm sure. The Nottingham scheme isn't a tax issue for employees, it's a levy on employers which is hypothecated to transport. Thanks @PS for information.

As to why it isn't done anywhere else, it's because all the politicos are feart. Nottingham had an elected mayor who had the vision to push it through.

Posted 5 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

I see Keith 'Motorways' Brown is now the depute leader of the Vile Separatists Party.

Posted 5 years ago #

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