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'A tax on jobs'

 

THE leader of Nottinghamshire County Council has slammed plans to introduce a workplace parking levy in Nottingham.
Kay Cutts described the controversial charges, backed by the city council, as a ‘tax on jobs’.
Last week the Government confirmed the fees will come into effect in 2012, meaning employees will have to pay up to £350 a year to park at work.
Councillor Cutts said: “I had hoped the city council would have listened to their taxpayers and businesses when they firmly objected to the levy. It is yet another tax on jobs during this long recession.
“My fear is that this tax will worsen the economic crisis in Nottinghamshire by driving businesses away.”
Under the scheme any company with 11 or more parking spaces will be charged £250 per year for each - rising to a potential £350 within two years.
Employers can choose to pay this themselves but most are expected to pass it on to their staff.
Nottingham will be the first city in the UK to have a workplace parking levy. It is expected the levy, which will raise funds to upgrade the city's tram network, will be adopted in other councils. In Nottingham alone 40,000 commuters could be affected.
Notts Chamber of Commerce, which ran a campaign against the levy, said it is looking at legal options to stop the charge being introduced.
The chamber believes the levy could be challenged because there was inadequate public consultation over the issue.
However, not everyone is opposed to the parking levy. Richard Hebditch, Campaign for Better Transport’s campaigns director, has welcomed the move.
He said: “The city council has shown good common sense in seeking to improve transport in the city by implementing a workplace parking levy. The levy will raise vital money to invest in great public transport improvements to help to reduce local traffic problems – which is good news for local businesses and local people.”