Alarm over plans to impose £2,000-a-year charge on each staff parking space in Leeds city centre

Leeds Council is consulting on imposing the levy on thousands of parking spaces to generate as much as £15m to £25m a year for a tram system – the first line of which is expected to run between Bradford and Leeds city centres.

Although the government has promised to provide the majority of the funding for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s mass transit system, a local contribution of 15 per cent to 20 per cent is required. The £2,080-per-space levy – which could be launched in 2027, subject to approval from the Department for Transport – would apply to city centre businesses with 10 or more parking spaces.

Those with nine or under, disabled parking spaces, hospitals and fleet vehicles would be exempt.

However council premises, medical centres, GPs surgeries and churches are not currently among proposed exemptions. Ten spaces would cost £20,800 – equivalent to a typical starting salary of an apprenticeship in Leeds.

For an employer with 50 spaces it would amount to £104,000 every year. On professional networking site LinkedIn one firm expressed alarm about a “crazy levy that will have a dire impact on city centre businesses and their staff who benefit from parking”.

Another pointed out that the cost to businesses was nearly 300 per cent more than Nottingham – the only other city in the country to impose a levy (£570 per space) saying it was a “punitive not proportionate” move. Yet another described it as a “terrible” idea that will stifle growth.

Questions have also been asked why business owners Leeds are being targeted, when there are no proposals for Bradford.

Andrew Cooper, chief executive of Leeds Business Improvement District (BID), which represents 1,000 businesses, said the levy “has caught many businesses off guard”.

He said: "The term levy is quite confusing to businesses as they are assuming there is a democratic process like a BID levy or property owner levy in London.

“I am keen to ensure that businesses that will be affected are made aware in a transparent way of the process of consultation that is being undertaken.

“Leeds city centre economy is growing, and businesses are making long term investment decisions to support the city’s ambitions of growth.”

The current consultation – another will follow in spring – says there may be other exemptions depending on feedback.

A Leeds Council spokesperson said: “The current level of funding available to us is insufficient to cover our ambitions, and introducing a mechanism such as a workplace parking levy is one funding option available which could help generate the revenue needed.”

They added: “We have written to all businesses within the proposed scheme’s boundary and encourage them to take part in this consultation before it closes on Sunday October 5.”