Work parking tax 'to boost economy'

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Councillors in Nottingham want to tax the city's largest companies for every parking space they provide employees as a way of raising funds to improve public transport.

From 2010 Nottingham City Council wants to charge firms £180 a year for every parking space they provide their staff, with the fee rising to £350 in 2014.

Business leaders in Nottingham have warned that if the proposals are approved by the Department for Transport in the coming weeks, then it will hit the city's economy hard.

But on Tuesday, the city council will tell delegates at a conference for local authorities looking at new sources of income, that traffic congestion currently costs the city's economy £160 million a year.

The council will say it plans to spend the millions it raises through the Work-Place Parking Levy on new tram routes, the refurbishment of its train station and new bus routes.

Councillor Jane Urquhart, who is in charge of transport at the authority, is attending the Financing the Future of Local Government conference at the Inmarsat Conference Centre in London on Tuesday.

She will say: "The UK will recover from the current economic crisis, and therefore it's important to be prepared for the future, rather than focusing purely on the short term.

"If we don't provide the finance that the Work-Place Parking Levy will generate, employers will not have the incentive to minimise their parking provision and encourage more sustainable commuter travel by their staff."

Business leaders in Nottingham have warned the tax could be introduced in other cities. George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said earlier: "It's clear that a precedent might be set and businesses across the country will have to pay the levy."