Author: Robin Roberts

The city which celebrates the work of bandit Robin Hood has introduced a workplace parking tax.

“A tax on work” is how the AA describes the introduction, by Nottingham City Council, of Britain ’s first workplace parking charge scheme.

Companies in the City of Nottingham will have to pay a fee of £288 for each parking space they offer their employees if they have more than 10 spaces. Some companies may pass on this charge to their employees and the cost is scheduled to rise in line with inflation or about 3% annually.

When asked about this concept shortly after it was announced in August 2009, 76% of the AA Populus Panel of 18,964 members thought that workplace parking levy was a bad idea and that the government should stop it.

Although the scheme is intended to provide revenue to invest in local transport schemes and to act as an incentive to companies to encourage their employees to travel to and from work using other forms of transport, 84% of AA Populus Panel members looked upon the scheme as “simply another way of taxing people who work.”

Only 27% of the panellists saw their employers picking up the charge on their behalf, the remainder seeing the employer either trying to reclaim the cost through salaries, making the employee pay, or paying only some of the charge.

Edmund King, AA president, said: “At a time when drivers are facing record prices at the pumps, further charges for parking at work are the last thing they need.

“This damaging “tax on work” should be stopped from spreading elsewhere as it will damage the economy and hit employees who just can’t afford it.”

It will become a business car issue in the city and affect not only individuals but also small fleet operators who have to park at their premises.