SNP is blamed for ‘decade of decline’ in public transport
PLANS for a ‘car park tax’ faced growing calls to be scrapped yesterday as the SNP was accused of presiding over a ‘decade of
decline’ on public transport.
Tens of thousands of Scots face having to pay nearly £500 a year for a parking space at their workplace.
The planned tax is the result of a lastditch
Budget deal between Finance Secretary Derek Mackay and the Greens.
It comes as the SNP looks set to slash funding for bus operators. Opponents yesterday
accused the Government of failing to get to grips with public transport.
Labour MSP Neil Bibby said: ‘Bus and rail services in this country are nowhere near good enough, particularly
for people who work shifts.’
The Scottish Government is set to back a Green amendment to give councils the power to
introduce the levy. Firms will have to pay for car parking they provide, with the option to pass the charge on to staff.
Three councils – Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and North Ayrshire – have ruled out imposing the charge over
fears it would ‘financially disadvantage’ workers.
Now a Scottish Government report has shown that between 2007 and 2017 the number of bus journeys in Scotland fell by 94million, from 487million journeys to just 393million last year.
It states there has been a ‘contraction’ in the industry ‘with the number of buses in operators’ fleets falling 16 per cent over five years’.
The Budget deal will also see spending on support for bus services slashed by £7million in a year, from £64.2million in 201819 to £57.2million in 2019-20.
Mr Bibby added: ‘The SNP have presided over a decade of decline in bus services.’
Last week, the Scottish Government was forced to issue a second improvement order to ScotRail ordering bosses to come up with a remedial plan due to failures in operations. Scottish Tory transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘It’s hard to imagine a single worker who’d benefit from swapping their car for public transport under the SNP.
‘That’s why Nicola Sturgeon should take this ridiculous policy off the table.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said that the’ introduction of any workplace parking levy would be at the discretion of local authorities’.