Scottish Employers could face an annual charge for allowing their staff to drive to work. The Scottish Parliament are now seriously considering allowing all local authorities within Scotland to raise this levy on employers. Whether employers then pass this on to employees remains to be seen.
Although this is making headlines in Scotland it is not a new idea, Australia and Canada adopted the idea for their cities and Nottingham City Council introduced the levy in 2012. During the first year of implementation raised approximately £7 million; so the financial incentive is there. London has its congestion charge and the ultra-low emission zone charge, costing the motorist in general over £20 per day. Some universities charge their employees to park on campus, where charging varies according to salary banding or emissions.
Sheffield, Oxford and Cambridge have either considered a charge or introduced something similar, in an attempt to ‘improve’ the public transport system. This is probably the common cry, provide a better public transport service and maybe ‘we’ the drivers may switch. The other issue is that not all of us actually live and work in the same area.
Will this charge have an effect on payroll departments and employees? It could do, especially where the charge is passed on. A topic we should all watch with interest.
