GLASGOW businesses have raised concern over plans to tax them for letting employees park outside offices as part of the a campaign to cut air pollution.
Glasgow City Council is considering a workplace parking levy similar to one being planned for Edinburgh.
A report to the council's environment, sustainablility and carbon reduction city policy committee says that potential advantages include reducing congestion causes by "single occupancy private car trips".
Environmental Protection Scotland (EPS) welcomed the proposed levy for Glasgow but it said funds raised from it should be ploughed back into improving the railways, buses and "lead to better, safer city centre cycle routes to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home".
The Glasgow-based charity also called for careful consideration and wider consultation by the community, including businesses, to ensure a Workplace Parking Levy does not lead to more overcrowding on buses and trains and damages the city’s economy.
But Richard Muir, deputy chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are unconvinced that a case has been made for another tax being raised on business as the evidence on congestion in Glasgow City Centre – as opposed to the wider city - is very thin.
"We are also unsure why a tax which would focus on one part of the city region geography would make sense. We do not wish to create disincentives to business investment in the city region’s engine room.”
Nottingham was the first place in the UK to introduce a levy in 2010 and the SNP-Labour administration in Edinburgh became the first to agree a scheme in Scotland.
In Nottingham, businesses are charged £402 each year per space and the money goes towards transport improvements, including extending the city's tram network.
Some employers may choose to reclaim the cost of the levy from their employees.
EPS said it fears firms which have suffered in recent years from business rate rises and been hit by the economic problems may simply pass on the cost of a Workplace Parking Levy to individual employees by deducting the charge from their wage packets leaving works to simply park on the outskirts of the city centre, exacerbating air pollution in some residential areas.
The charity also said there must be clarity on whether the owners of electric or low emission vehicles would be exempt from being charged for parking in office car-parks.
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