HOSPICES should be exempt from a controversial new tax on workplace parking spaces, a charity has said.
Marie Curie said it was facing “increasing costs year-on-year”, and warned any extra levy would act as an additional burden.
It comes as a last-minute Budget deal between the SNP and the Greens opened the door to a wave of new local taxes.
This includes handing councils the power to introduce a levy on staff parking spaces – a move critics fear could leave employees with a bill of more than £400 a year.
Richard Meade, head of policy and public affairs for Scotland at Marie Curie, insisted Scottish Government plans to exempt NHS properties should be extended to hospices.
He said: “Marie Curie would like to see hospices exempt from the proposed workplace parking levy when it is introduced in the Transport (Scotland) Bill.
“The Government has already promised to exclude NHS premises from the levy and hospices should be treated the same.
“With over 50 staff parking spaces at our Glasgow hospice and ten at our Edinburgh hospice, this could be a significant cost, which will need to be met by either our fundraised income or our staff.
“Our hospices provide 24-hour care and support, with a range of staff including nurses, healthcare assistants, cleaners and kitchen staff relying on their cars to get to work.
“Public transport isn't always convenient, especially overnight. We work in partnership with the NHS in Scotland to deliver care and support to over 8,600 people living with a terminal illness, and their families, every year.
“Hospices are facing increasing costs year-on-year and we are calling on MSPs to ensure that this is one less we have to face.”
It comes amid widespread outcry over the new tax plans among business groups, unions and opposition parties.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, previously argued the move risked acting as a “disincentive” to teachers taking up jobs in inner city schools.
A similar scheme in Nottingham saw firms forced to pay £415 a year for every staff parking space, with many businesses passing this cost on to employees.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The proposed levy would only be introduced if local authorities decided to do so, therefore any predicted costs are purely speculation.
“We will be engaging with the Green Party and stakeholders to help shape the specifics. Any amendments will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel