City businesses could pay thousands for staff parking spaces under council plans

Businesses in Cardiff could be charged thousands of pounds for staff car parking under new council plans.

It's proposed that larger firms would pay £750 for each employee parking space they provide.

The money would then be used for transport projects within the city, such as buses and cycle lanes.

The scheme is designed to encourage workers in the city to travel either by walking, cycling or using public transport.

There will now be a consultation and the details will go before the council's environmental scrutiny committee.

The council said it preferred a parking space charge over a congestion charge, which was first suggested in 2023 over concerns about pollution.

As the scheme is in its early stages, the size of the businesses it affects as well as how much the levy will be per space is not known.

A workplace parking levy (WPL) is an annual charge paid by some businesses to a council based on the number of employee parking spaces.

The scheme is designed to encourage workers in the city to travel either by walking, cycling, or using public transport.

The money raised by the levy is ring-fenced to fund public transport projects in the local authority area such as bus routes and cycle lanes.

Currently the only city in the UK that has implemented a WPL is Nottingham, which introduced it in 2011.

However other cities such as Bristol and Oxford have both outlined plans to bring one in in the future.

According to documents provided during the council meeting, the council is using a figure of £750 for each employer-provided parking place, and which would be subject to increase annually.

However this figure is for "the purposes of analysis" and is "subject to change".

In Nottingham, a city which is repeatedly referenced in council material as a model to emulate, the cost per workplace parking space is set at £592 per year for employers who provide 11 or more liable places.

In the Nottingham scheme, employers with 10 or fewer liable workplace parking places must still obtain a WPL licence but will receive a 100% discount on those 10 places making them effectively free.

The WPL has exemptions for disabled blue badge holders, emergency services and eligible NHS premises, as well as motorcycles, delivery vehicles, and parking for occasional visitors.

VAT is not payable on WPL charges but if an employer passes the charge onto an employee, then it is subject to VAT.

Any such rules for Cardiff would not be guaranteed to be the same but it is likely to be very similar.

While the consultation will also include options such as introducing other road-user charges and a "do nothing" option, the cabinet meeting made it clear the WPL would be the local authority's preferred option.

Councillor Dan De'Ath, the council's cabinet member for environment, said its current funding levels were "simply insufficient".

The council said it expected the levy to raise somewhere in the region of £10m per year, depending on discounts and exemptions.

De'Ath said the scheme was "our chance to really give people the bus service they deserve" and build the type of transport system that "people on the continent take for granted and have had for years".

He added that the WPL could play a large role in "unlocking the economic potential of Cardiff" and "unlocking a transport system that is fair".

The levy would have an estimated set-up cost of between £3m and £5m and, according to the council, a low operating cost.

Earlier this week, Conservative group leader John Lancaster questioned whether putting more money into the city's bus service would, in light of declining bus use, be putting money into a service people do not use.

In response, a Cardiff Council officer said the scheme would provide a "clear incentive for people" to use them.

De'Ath said more details and an assessment of the scheme would come through the consultation with businesses and stakeholders.

He added: "We wouldn't bring anything in if it had a massive detrimental effect on our businesses."

The proposal is in the early stages of development and ultimately may not come to fruition.

The council will launch a public consultation for residents and businesses this summer.