Workplace Parking Levy – Sheffield Green Party

Greens on Sheffield City Council have proposed a plan to help fund local public services following years of cuts.

Walkley Green Councillor, Bernard Little, at Wednesday’s Full Council meeting, will propose a plan of action to address the Government cuts that mean that the Council has £856/household per year less to spend on local services than in 2010.

Councillor Little said,

“What really concerns me is that neither the Conservatives, nor a potential Labour-led Government, have a proper plan for ensuring cash-strapped councils get the funding they need to deliver the services so many people rely on.

“The good news is that the answers to how we raise the funds needed have been developed here in Sheffield. The ‘Taxing Wealth Report’ (1) being produced by Economics Professor Richard Murphy of Sheffield University, shows that, by fairly taxing the top 1% of the wealthy and high earners, the Government could raise £83.3 billion each year. Unfortunately, this is something that both Labour and the Conservatives are unwilling to consider.

“In the absence of a plan from both larger parties (2) the Council needs to develop its own plan to make it more resilient to funding cuts, whether it is a Conservative or Labour Government that is imposing them.

“Greens are proposing three policies to bring much-needed extra cash to support local services.

“Establishing a wholly-owned Council company to help deliver the council’s objectives and raise income by delivering reliable services for Sheffield residents. These could be useful services such as gardening, household repairs, heating system servicing and replacement and retrofit works. This has been successfully piloted by Oxford City Council where, this year, it will make a £600,000 contribution to council funds. (3)

“We need to invest in renewable energy projects on Council land and buildings to generate energy and income. Cambridgeshire County Council will soon be receiving £1 million each year from a solar farm it has developed. (4)

“Introducing an Employers’ Workplace Parking Levy to help fund public transport, road safety and active travel measures. This could raise around £10 million each year. This has been successfully trialled in Nottingham where they have raised nearly £100 million and attracted over £1 billion in investment for public transport and active travel over the last 10 years. (5)

“Together, these measures will improve the standards of our homes, our transport and our quality of life for everyone in Sheffield.”

References

(1) Taxing Wealth Report – Professor Richard Murphy

taxingwealth.uk

(2) Labour needs to level up its offer to local government

Labour Needs To Level Up Its Offer To Local Government – The Social Review

(3) Oxford City Council Medium Term Financial Strategy – Page 20

DRAFT (oxford.gov.uk)

(4) How Cambridgeshire Council is raising revenue with solar farms – Friends of the Earth

How Cambridgeshire Council is raising revenue with solar farms | Local action (friendsoftheearth.uk)

(5) Nottingham’s Workplace Parking Levy – 10 year impact report

WPL-10-Year-Impact-Report-Digital-Nov-22.pdf (transportnottingham.com)

In the ongoing disaster that is South Yorkshire’s bus services, I welcome all efforts by the Mayor, Oliver Coppard, to fight for better funding. The previous Labour mayor, Dan Jarvis, massively underachieved in building, or even protecting public transport infrastructure.

In Hillsborough, the frequent and well-used 52A service now goes no further than Hillsborough Interchange. It has been replaced by the unreliable, hourly, 31 through to Wisewood and Loxley with no evening or Sunday service. Similar changes have happened to many services across Sheffield and South Yorkshire damaging the economy and people’s lives.

Now, with South Yorkshire’s Bus Services Improvement Plan receiving no government funding in 2022, there’s not only a huge public transport funding gap between the South and the North. There’s a growing divide between northern regions too and South Yorkshire faces yet more cuts.

Lessons can be learnt from other councils to help fund public transport. A workplace parking levy in Nottingham has raised almost £90 million over the last 10 years which has been re-invested into sustainable transport across the city. Green Party proposals to explore this in Sheffield continue to be blocked by Labour and Lib Dem councillors.

We must get buses back under local control. Dan Jarvis dithered before finally starting the legal process in March 2022, the last month of his 4-year term. Greater Manchester begins to get services back into public control this September. It’s going to take time in South Yorkshire and the Mayor must work hard to secure the funding needed for a successful transition when it finally happens.

The Tory government has created an appalling system that pits regions against each other. It causes great economic and social problems for those areas that lose out. We have no choice but to radically improve the quality of our funding bids and negotiation skills with the Government. But we also need to reverse a decade of tax cuts for the rich to properly fund all public services, including a public transport system in meltdown.

Find out more about the Green Party’s vision for transport in Sheffield and South Yorkshire here www.getsheffieldmoving.org

Councillor Toby Mallinson, Hillsborough Ward Green Party

Tag: Workplace Parking Levy

Greens plan to fund local council services

We must get buses back under local control.