Chamber and committees

The SNP group in Aberdeen has already said that it will not introduce the car parking levy. That is local democracy. My colleague Douglas Lumsden is laughing—this from a man who has a private car parking space in the middle of Aberdeen city centre because he is a councillor while his own council staff have to pay car parking charges. I will not take lectures from the Conservatives.

It is right that the Scottish Government has introduced a blanket exemption for blue badge holders, healthcare workers at national health service premises and parking places at hospices. However, local authorities will be able to use their local knowledge and provide additional exemptions where those are required to fit the local circumstances by listening to the requirements of the area through consultation and community empowerment. Nottingham City Council, the only local authority in England to have introduced a workplace parking levy, has created a system that works for its area.

I am pleased that any revenue that is raised by the workplace parking levy will be reinvested in local transport strategies and the promotion of more affordable, greener transport choices.

I will finish off, Presiding Officer. I am sorry that I will probably be a little bit over time, if you do not mind.

In his motion, Mr Simpson criticises the Scottish Government for its investment in electric vehicle infrastructure at a time when commitments have been made to provide up to £60 million to local authorities over the next four years. That funding has the potential to double the size of the public charging network in Scotland. The workplace parking levy is about funding alternative transport options.

With all that in mind, I will support the minister’s amendment at decision time.

Empowering local authorities to take ownership of the workplace parking levy is key to ensuring that the legislation fits each local circumstance.

Yesterday, I said that what fits in Aberdeen might not fit in Edinburgh. That is true even between areas in Aberdeen: what suits Aberdeen Donside might not suit Aberdeen Central or Aberdeen South. Local authorities need to consult our citizens and businesses to ensure that the legislation meets the needs of their workers, and they need to undertake the necessary impact assessments and decide whether a scheme fits with their local objectives.

Graham Simpson rose—

I would like to get started, if the member does not mind.

Time and time again, I hear from my Tory and Labour administration colleagues in Aberdeen City Council, where I serve as a councillor, that power is centralised to Holyrood and that we need more powers coming to local authorities, because they think that they know what is best for the city of Aberdeen. We now see those powers being given, along with the flexibility to tailor the levy to local circumstances, but their Holyrood party colleagues are putting more emphasis on the Government creating further exemptions and strings on the legislation and, in effect, taking away that power.

I think it is up to local authorities to make that decision. I am still a serving councillor—I will be until May—so I am going to say that. You mentioned the police, but in my patch—in my ward, as well as my constituency—we have a police station in Mastrick that does not have a parking place. The police park in the area around the police station. People say that the police, teachers or whoever would be pushed out, but that is not necessarily the case.

It should be down to local authorities to make those decisions. They should be empowered to decide what is appropriate for their areas and what the impact would be. The minister said in her answer to a question that Nottingham has exempted places with 10 parking spaces or fewer. Our local authorities would have the ability to choose that approach, which would protect small businesses. Our councillors are very good at listening to their local communities. They are at the coalface of politics and they are the ones who hear when things are right and when things are being done wrongly. I have every faith in them being able to make those decisions.

I will not be a serving councillor by the time the regulations come in, but I think that they are the right thing to do.

Are you asking me whether I would like the minister to make that decision?

Good morning, minister. If you do not mind, I will ask a few questions about the process for exemptions. We have had responses from people who feel that their businesses should be exempt. Could you give us some clarification on, and perhaps an explanation of, exemptions? Can you give us examples of exemptions? Who will be responsible for setting out exemptions? What would the process be for putting exemptions in place?

Of course.

I was not an MSP when the bill that became the 2019 act was passed; I was, and still am, a serving councillor at Aberdeen City Council. I want to say how exciting it is that local authorities will be empowered with more decision-making powers. Everybody, on a cross-party basis, has been welcoming that for years, so it is disappointing to hear that some people think that local authorities should not be empowered to make the choices that affect people in their local communities.

We have heard a lot today. I thank the minister for answering my questions on exemptions, because I was keen to hear about that. I heard that exemptions would be made on a case-by-case basis and that decisions could be broken down within local authorities. For example, an exemption in my Aberdeen Donside constituency might not be appropriate in Aberdeen Central or Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, because there are different areas within local authorities where—

Thank you very much for your answer, minister.

Rail, of course, is not a fully devolved matter. Does the minister anticipate that causing challenges for the new public sector rail service? What more can be done to make the case for full devolution of all powers and resources for rail to Scotland?