Cardiff workplace parking levy could raise £10m a year

Mark Mansfield

A proposed workplace parking levy could raise around £10 million a year for transport improvements in Cardiff, the council has said as it opens a public consultation.

Residents and businesses have until January 17, 2027 to comment on the plans, which would require employers to pay an annual levy based on the number of eligible parking spaces they provide.

The workplace parking levy is the council’s preferred option for raising additional transport funding. No final decision has been made, and the authority says introducing a scheme would take several years.

Earlier council documents used a charge of £750 per parking space for modelling purposes. The final rate, which employers would have to pay and any exemptions or discounts have yet to be decided.

The council says its current transport grant funding of around £7 million a year is insufficient to deliver the improvements needed as the city grows.

Money raised through the levy would be reserved for transport spending, including bus services, walking and cycling routes, road safety and highway maintenance.

The consultation follows the cabinet’s decision in July to favour a workplace parking levy over a congestion charge. It also sets out other funding options considered by the authority, including road-user charging and a levy on retail parking.

Cllr Dan De’Ath, cabinet member for climate change, strategic planning and transport, said: “Good transport is essential for Cardiff’s future. We know residents want public transport that is more reliable, affordable and accessible, and we want to continue investing in infrastructure that makes it easier for people to travel around the city.

“Delivering those improvements requires significant investment, so we are exploring a range of options that could help fund Cardiff’s future transport network.”

The council argues that a workplace parking levy would be cheaper and simpler to introduce than road-user charging, with less direct impact on residents and drivers.

However, motoring organisations have previously questioned whether employers would pass the cost on to staff.

‘Tax on workers’

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in July, the AA’s head of roads policy, Jack Cousens, said: “The most common argument against a workplace parking levy is that it is a tax on workers.”

He also argued that workplace parking spaces were already taxed through business rates, describing the proposed levy as a “double tax”.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, questioned whether businesses would benefit from the services their payments helped fund.

“One of the reasons firms offer parking is that often trains and buses don’t – and won’t – service their premises,” he said.

Cardiff has studied Nottingham’s workplace parking levy, which has operated since 2012. According to the council, that scheme raises around £10 million a year and has helped fund major transport improvements.

Exemptions

Details of any Cardiff exemptions, including how public sector employers would be treated, will be considered through the consultation and a full business case.

The council also says it would assess whether the levy could push parking into surrounding streets and consult communities on parking zones where necessary.

Council officers will hold drop-in sessions at St David’s Shopping Centre from October 12 to 18. Separate sessions are planned with major employers.

The consultation opened today (5 October). Further information and the questionnaire are available on the council’s website.

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