Leonard says Scottish Labour government would get rid of workplace parking charge

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard says the party would scrap the controversial workplace parking charge – if it won power in Holyrood.

The levy is being introduced after the Scottish Government reached a deal with the Scottish Greens earlier this year.

In a Holyrood vote last week, MSPs rejected a Labour amendment calling for the removal of the proposal from the Transport (Scotland) Bill.

On Monday, Mr Leonard said Labour will pledge to axe the charge in its manifesto for government in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

The party will instead build a reliable and more affordable public transport system to encourage people to leave their cars at home, he said.

The leader said: “Many people across Scotland simply cannot rely on our crumbling transport system because it is more interested in profits than passengers.

“The solution to this problem is not to slap a new tax on getting to work, it is to transform our transport system.

“That is why Scottish Labour will axe the tax in government, bring our railways into public ownership and build a free bus network to serve communities across the country.”

Under the government proposals, local authorities will be given the choice of whether to impose the levy.

Ministers have specified that NHS sites would not be included in any charging scheme.

A report in the Mail on Sunday newspaper suggested only two local authorities - Glasgow and Edinburgh - are considering implementing the proposals.

A spokesman for Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “This is more shameless hypocrisy from Richard Leonard and the Scottish Labour Party.

“The workplace parking levy is about empowering councils - allowing them to decide upon which policies work best locally.

“The only local authority anywhere in the UK that currently charges people to park at their work is Labour-run Nottingham council.”

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The Scottish Labour Party is utterly embarrassing. It has been all over the place on this issue.

“Labour may want the Scottish Parliament to be a parochial backwater that discusses parking, but the Scottish Greens have higher ambitions, and we are content to let local councils take decisions to suit local circumstances."