You could soon be paying to park at work.

Back in February I reported on the controversial Workplace Parking Levy proposal.
Transport Minister Sadiq Khan announced this morning that Nottingham will become the first area in the country to introduce charges for parking spaces at your place of work. These schemes are known as WPL or Workplace Parking Levy's.
Starting in April 2012, businesses in Nottingham with more than 10 parking places will be charged £185 for every space.
It is likely most companies will pass these charges onto their employees as recommended by the government meaning a charge of £15.50 a month deducted from wages. The WPL will increase to £350 a year or £30 a month by 2014.
Workplace parking charges have been adopted by government after the rejection of road pricing and congestion charging following the 1.8 Million petition on the Downing Street website. The referendum in Manchester where 79% of voters rejected the charge also proved the public are not behind these schemes.
Charging to park at work is seen by government as a form of 'demand management' and a way of raising finance for public transport; in this case the extension of the tram in Nottingham.
However, large companies such as Boots based on the outskirts of the city will not benefit but will still be expected pick up the bill.
If they then decide to pass this charge onto employees who cannot use public transport they will be forced subsidise the fare of passengers who can.
It is estimated that if rolled out across the country, over £3 Billion would be raised from motorists parking at work.
Councils in Milton Keynes, Exeter, Cambridge and Oxford have expressed interest in the scheme.
The Core Cities Group, which represents Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield, has also expressed interest, identifying the levy's “congestion-busting” potential.
Richard Hebditch at the Campaign for Better Transport   welcomes the scheme.
Theresa Villiers, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Transport , however,   condemned the charge saying:
'At a time when jobs are under threat and businesses are under huge pressure, it is wrong to hit enterprise in Nottingham with a workplace parking levy,' she said.
'These new charges will be a real blow to the city and we oppose them.'
Further reports can be found:
Telegraph
Press Association
Daily Mail

Daily Express

Kind regards

Jon Derbyshire
Head Office

Kimada House 442 Flixton Road•Flixton•Manchester•M41 6EY
• www.heads-uk.com
• e: Jon.Derbyshire@heads-uk.com
• t: 0161-746-8811
• f: 0161-749-7369

If you do not wish to receive further emailings from Heads Recruitment, please email
UnsubscribeA@heads-uk.comand include 'remove' in the subject line.

MANCHESTER Tel: 0161 746 8811 Fax: 0161 747 7940

HALIFAX Tel: 01422 373 998 Fax: 01422 375 970

LEEDS Tel: 0113 383 5324 Fax: 0113 383 5325

WAKEFIELD Tel: 01924-364-111 Fax: 01924-366-444

SHEFFIELD TEL: 0114 251 6767 Fax: 0114 251 6700