Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 February 2022
I am in my last minute.
Local authorities must consult locally those who are likely to be impacted by local schemes, and they should undertake impact assessments. Reducing car travel will help to improve air quality and safety; we know that those issues have disproportionate impacts on the less-well-off people in our society.
Ahead of the debate, Transform Scotland noted:
“A factor that has contributed to the increase in car use over the past decade, while bus use has fallen, is the relative cost of driving.
This has effectively made driving cheaper over time while bus use has become significantly more expensive.
This trend has affected the poorest in Scotland most adversely”.
We know that 60 per cent of people who are on the lowest incomes have no access to a car. Among people with long-term health problems or disabilities, the figure is 46 per cent.
The workplace parking levy is old news. The primary legislation, which can only be undone by new primary legislation, has been on the statute book for more than two years. I have heard no proposals today to reintroduce new primary legislation to undo that. There is no vision from the Conservatives and no new ideas—just opposition for opposition’s sake. Surely the people of Scotland deserve better than that.
I move amendment S6M-03279.2, to leave out from “condemns” to end and insert:
“notes that the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 gives local authorities the discretionary power to implement a workplace parking licensing scheme within the context of their local transport strategy and, if a scheme is proposed, requires local authorities to undertake consultation and impact assessments on their local proposals; welcomes that COSLA and local leaders of political parties positively greeted these new powers being provided to local authorities at the time of the Act in 2019; acknowledges that local authorities in England and Wales have had these powers for over a decade, with Nottingham City Council so far making use of them, and other authorities, including Oxford and Leicester, now also considering their use, and recognises that, as well as supporting a reduction in congestion and meeting climate change goals, workplace parking schemes will raise revenue to invest in local transport priorities, including public transport and active travel, and align with other recent Scottish Government initiatives such as free bus travel for under-22s, record investment in active travel, investment in electric vehicle infrastructure and the target to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030.”
16:21Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.