Council U-turns on workplace parking levy

Leicester City Council has dropped plans to introduce a workplace parking levy (WPL) in 2023, citing the cost of living crisis.

The council also warned it was facing a shortfall in its budget of 'many tens of millions' forcing it to make difficult decisions about public transport services.

Cllr Adam Clarke, deputy city mayor, said: 'We made a commitment in 2019 to consult on a levy in Leicester, and at that time we could not foresee the political uncertainty and dire economic situation the country is facing today.

'We have concluded that we cannot implement a WPL during this ongoing national cost of living crisis, which is causing such uncertainty and concern for so many people and businesses in our city.

'The consequence of this of course is that we won’t have the funding needed to radically improve public transport for so many of our residents, which would in turn help to tackle the climate emergency. In truth, simply maintaining the current levels of service will be a huge challenge.’

This article first appeared on localgov.co.uk, where Christopher Hammond, UK100 membership director, has previously argued that now is the time for councils to follow Nottingham City Council in introducing a WPL.