I see Miles Brigs is reheating the debate about the Workplace Parking Levy in time for the Council elections. A primer for anyone dealing with this nonsense on social media or elsewhere:
1. The levy is payable by the employer, not the employee. The employer can choose to pass on all, some or none of the levy to any member of staff who uses a workplace parking space.
2. NHS premises and hospices are exempt from the levy.
3. Blue Badge holders are exempt from the levy.
4. Local exemptions can be applied as part of any workplace parking scheme. Nottingham, the only place in the UK with a parking levy, exempts workplace car parks with 10 or fewer spaces and frontline emergency services.
5. All revenue generated, after scheme administration costs, must be reinvested in local transport measures - which can include road maintenance.
6. Research into the Nottingham scheme found that it has reduced congestion and had a positive impact on inward investment into the city.
7. The levy is £428 per year in Nottingham (Edinburgh would likely charge something close to this) - which is approximately £2.10 per working day. The average hourly pay in Edinburgh was £17.49 in 2020.
8. Just 39% of Edinburgh residents drove to work in 2019, with a further 2% travelling as a car/van passenger.
9. Car ownership and use increases with household income. While the levy will have to be paid by some low income households, it will primarily fall on these most able to afford it.
10. Income from the levy can be used to support bus, walking and cycling, providing low income households with an alternative to driving - freeing them from the financial burden of car ownership to access employment.
11. Claims that "110,000 workers" will be impacted are unsupported by evidence. There were 343,000 workers in Edinburgh in 2019. That would mean 1 in 3 workers has a space in a dedicated workplace car park. This seems unlikely - I doubt there are 110,000 workplace car parking spaces in Edinburgh and at least some car commuters park on the street or in commercial car parks.
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