Scottish Conservatives have put forward a list of exemptions to the SNP/ Green legislation to introduce a tax for workers to park at their place of work.
The Workplace Parking Levy is part of the Transport Bill, which is at the final Stage 3, that is to be voted on at Holyrood today (Wednesday).
Under the new legislation local authorities will have the power to implement a tax on workers parking at their place of work, up to £500 a year. The City of Edinburgh Council have already indicated that they would introduce the tax.
This new tax means that a person who lives in an adjacent local authority to Edinburgh, such as Midlothian, West Lothian, East Lothian or the Borders, could be charged an extra £500 by Edinburgh Council, despite having no vote in the council elections.
Teachers, Police Officers, Social Workers, Prison Officers, Scottish Fire and Rescue service, Air Ambulance, Charities, Veterinary Practices and the Lifeboat service are amongst the groups that amendments have been table for (see below).
Opponents to the tax have highlighted that it is discriminatory and will cost someone on minimum wage the same as it would as someone on a high salary.
Workers who have no option but to drive to work could be £500 worse off every year which would have a big impact on a families budget. This would be doubled in families where both parents need to use their car to get to work.
Police Scotland have spoken out against the tax raising concerns of the impact that it would have on Police Officer safety (link).
Liam Smith, Centre Director at Fort Kinnaird, said: “Our team at Fort Kinnaird work tirelessly to ensure our work does not adversely impact the environment; diverting 97% of waste from landfill; achieving a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating for sustainability; building excellent cycle access; and working with City of Edinburgh and East Lothian councils to ensure good bus options for staff and customers.
“Nonetheless, we do not believe a Workplace Parking Levy would help deliver the environmentally and economically sustainable retail sector we all want to see.
“A Workplace Parking Levy could put the £53m GVA Fort Kinnaird contributes annually to the Scottish economy, and the 2000 jobs it supports, at risk by adding an additional cost to retail businesses already operating in an extremely challenging environment which includes a significant business rates burden, changing shopping habits and the rise of online retail.
“In addition, despite the good public transport options in place for people to come to Fort Kinnaird, work shift patterns require staff to be on site at hours when these are often not available, and travel by car is the only safe and practical option for some.
“We would therefore have very real concerns for the health, wellbeing and safety of staff if the introduction of a Workplace Parking Levy resulted in the option of car transport being significantly curtailed or removed altogether.
“We would be delighted to work with Scottish Government and partners to deliver a programme which effectively tackles the climate emergency in an economically sustainable way but do not believe the Workplace Parking Levy will achieve that shared goal.”
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP, said: “The Workplace Parking Levy is a fundamentally unfair tax that would significantly impact families budgets.
“I fully understand the need to protect our environment and reduce pollution, but this simply is not the right way to go about it.
“SNP Ministers must seriously rethink this deeply flawed new legislation that will targets hard working people across Scotland.”
- Amendment 23 would exempt any and all car park spaces at Scottish educational institutions from being subject to the workplace parking levy. As this is defined within the schedules of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (2002), this would include primary, secondary, further and higher education institutions.
- Amendment 31 would exempt establishments that provide adult social care;
- Amendment 32 would exempt establishments that provide adult health care;
- Amendment 33 would exempt residential care establishments.
- Amendment 24 would exempt the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- Amendment 25 would exempt Police Scotland
- Amendment 26 would exempt any employees of local authorities whom are responsible for the provision of criminal justice social work services, and;
- Amendment 27 would exempt anybody who is employed at one of Her Majesty’s Prison Estates in Scotland.
- Amendment 95 would exempt car park spaces that are reserved for people providing air ambulance, or other rescue facilities by air;
- Amendment 96 would exempt any car park spaces at any health-based charity in Scotland, and;
- Amendment 97 would exempt car park spaces at any and all veterinary practices across Scotland.
- Amendment 166 would see people employed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution exempted from the charge.
- Amendment 169 would see serving members of the armed forces exempted from the charge.
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