Using the Workplace Parking Levy to fund sustainable transport

This webinar took place on 22 September 2021 – but you can view it on YouTube

You can view Rachel Warren’s slides here.

Learn how a Workplace Parking Levy can raise money for cash-strapped councils – so they can invest in sustainable transport.

Nottingham City Council (NCC) pioneered the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) some 14 years ago. It has been hailed as a huge success, allowing NCC to invest in improving Nottingham’s sustainable transport infrastructure.

Nine years of an active WPL has seen Nottingham transformed into a city which is recognised as a pioneer in tackling climate change and urban deprivation. Awarded Go Ultra Low City status in 2016, the Council has since won numerous national and international awards for its revolutionary transport strategy, of which the WPL is the clear centrepiece. The scheme also forms part of Nottingham’s ambition to become the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2028.

NCC are actively engaging with and helping other local authorities to deliver a WPL scheme in their area, both across the UK and globally. In July 2019, neighbouring Leicester City Council contracted NCC to deliver a Feasibility Study and WPL Route Map to follow for effective WPL implementation.

NCC’s vision is to establish a network of WPL schemes nationwide, allowing the benefits of a WPL scheme to be realised on a national scale and creating a coordinated approach with local authorities. A network of schemes presents further opportunities for transport network integration and sharing of best practice.

NCC currently set the annual levy charge at £428 per place for employers who provide 11 or more liable workplace parking places. The scheme has raised more than £83m so far – with all revenue ring-fenced to be spent on locally-identified transport improvements.

Although businesses would understandably be reluctant to pay, there is strong evidence from Nottingham that the benefits to local business from access to the impressive public transport network and reducing congestion, outweigh the costs of the levy.

Join this webinar to hear directly from NCC about how they harnessed the WPL to pay for significant investments in better sustainable transport infrastructure. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, and the webinar will be chaired by the Labour MP for Nottingham South, Lilian Greenwood, former Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.