Later today (9th May) Cllr Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council, is expected to back the Workplace Parking Levy to his opposite numbers from the cities of Leicester and Derby.

He hopes the three cities can work together to implement a Levy scheme for each city as opposed to pursuing a Road User Charging alternative.

Nottingham is well advanced with its Levy and will continue to take its own scheme forward. At the same time the three authorities would explore how a Levy scheme could work across the three cities and what the next steps would be. It is expected that the councils could develop a joint bid to the Government’s Transport Innovation Fund seeking funding to research and consult on a business case for a joint WPL scheme.

The next steps for Nottingham’s own Levy is for councillors to consider the legal Order for the scheme at a meeting of their Full Council on Monday 12th May. If passed, the Order will be submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation, and subject to Government approval, a WPL scheme could be introduced in 2010.

Councillor Jon Collins said:

"The recent report on the potential of road pricing by the 6Cs was very interesting, it was sensible to conduct that study, but ultimately it fails to convince us – we still believe that a Levy will bring congestion benefits in a way that is more simple, fair and better targeted at commuters than Road User Charging.

"We’ve always made it explicitly clear that our preference is for Nottingham City Council to pursue a Workplace Parking Levy. I’m hoping that Leicester City Council and Derby City Council will be interested in exploring a combined approach to implementing a joint Levy scheme. We’ll do everything we can to support them and share our learning.

"I’m interested in providing businesses and residents with clear direction and the Levy is the way forward. We are not contemplating a local RUC. Everyday RUC would cost drivers more than twice as much as a Levy and it would cost much more than the Levy to implement. The main cause of congestion is the commuters who are driving to work. A Levy targets the commuters without charging pensioners, tourists, shoppers, unemployed and disabled people or families ferrying kids around."

The Workplace Parking Levy in Nottingham would fund local transport improvements including:

• Extending the successful NET tram system south and west of the city.
• More Link bus services and the funding needed to continue to run the existing popular Link buses which serve areas not covered by commercial public transport operators  
• Transform Nottingham Station into a ‘Hub’ with improved connections to buses and trams and expanded passenger facilities – turning it into one of the top European transport interchanges
• Increased support and advice to businesses for travel planning and parking management.

What are the next steps for Nottingham’s WPL?

At the Nottingham City Council Full Council Meeting on May 12, councillors will consider the draft legal Order and Business Case for the WPL scheme. Councillors will be recommended to approve the WPL scheme and direct that the Order be made by the Council. The Order is the legal document which authorises the scheme and contains the legal framework within which the scheme will operate. The Order will then need to be confirmed by the Secretary of State for Transport and, if approved, a WPL scheme could be implemented in Nottingham in 2010. In the first year of the scheme £5.6 million would be raised by the WPL, rising to £11.3 million per annum in 2015. 

What consultation has taken place?

WPL has been debated in depth through extensive consultation last year. All the issues were thoroughly explored at the Public Examination in October 2007 and the findings of the independent examiner have been considered and taken into account. Ultimately 68% of city residents who took part in the consultation supported the WPL package and proposals to raise further funding for more trams, better buses and a modern train station.

How would a WPL scheme work?

If introduced, a WPL would see around 500 larger employers being charged an annual fee for each of the parking spaces they provides for their staff. The cost of each space would initially be around 75p per day in April 2010, rising with increments and inflation in the early years while public transport improvements are rolled out until it reaches approx £1.50 in 2015. In future years the fee would increase with inflation only.

It is for businesses themselves to decide whether to pass on the charge to commuters and encourage them to think about using public transport instead. Smaller businesses, with 10 or less liable parking spaces, and the 125,000 people who already help tackle congestion every day by walking, cycling or using public transport will not have to pay – nor will shoppers, tourists, disabled drivers, pensioners, unemployed people and people parking at fire, police and health premises.