Anyone who has to fill in a business rates form will be aware that for the last 6 years you needed to add how many parking places your work premises has for your workers
Well comrades its looks like our new govt is going to make it harder for your local council to charge for these Parking places
I know nottingham said they were going to charge and boots the chemist threatened to up sticks and this week leeds and york said they were thinking of charging too
quote--------
After reports that several cities in the uk are set to charge motorists up to £350 a year to park at work, transport secretary Philip Hammond is today said to be considering tightening the rules to make such charges harder to implement.--unquote---------
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I think anyone who doesn't have disabled badge and who doesn't have a legitimate business reason to need their car at work should pay to park. Especially anyone who drives less than a couple of miles to do so.
Much rush hour congestion is caused by vehicles whose owners could have walked. I can't remember the details but I think it was the AA who found that some huge percentage of car journeys were to and from work and were of less than 2 miles.
No wonder there are so many fat people.
So there.
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you forgot to mention all the mums who drive their precious ones to school and the roads are empty during the closed school days
so there there
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That's why there are so many fat kids and mums.....
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Dropping off the kids at school is a very sexually charged moment. It is essential to have a nice motor and nothing to do with distance or health.
There are a couple of really, really hot mums at our school. In fact I don't just drop them off, I go inside and sniff around for some mature mum action.
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Well at least you are getting some cardio vascular benefit Dave, wandering about the school breathing heavily,
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Does Mrs Big Bad Davina (the second) know about this snifing for hot mum action?
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"Does Mrs Big Bad Davina (the second) know about this snifing for hot mum action?"
She goes straight back to bed the second I'm out the door.
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>> "Does Mrs Big Bad Davina (the second) know about this snifing for hot mum action?"
>>
>> She goes straight back to bed the second I'm out the door.
Lets hope its not with your best mate.
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Yup, looking forward to next week when the kids are back.
Mine are both going to the same school this year which is about a km down the road. I'll drive them in the morning because I like to drive into the village for bread and milk afterwards but I'll walk in the afternoon.
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>> There are a couple of really, really hot mums at our school. In fact I
>> don't just drop them off, I go inside and sniff around for some mature mum
>> action.
Keep your footwear hidden, and you should be OK :-)
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>> Keep your footwear hidden, and you should be OK :-)
Oh I dunno, he's gone and bought himself an old Lexus 430. They'll probably just think he's a not very successful pimp now.
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Cowboy boots and sideburns. Those are the icebreakers.
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>> Cowboy boots and sideburns. Those are the icebreakers.
What, as in the old thing about women liking guys who make them laugh ?
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Who knows...? But it's a formula that seems to work. With lap dancers anyway.
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>Cowboy boots and sideburns. Those are the icebreakers.
Nah. It's the leather chaps and no underwear. They love it.
Kevin...
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"leather chaps and no underwear"
well it might explain why pretty boys are always following me around...
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You'd draw the line at doing the school run in the chaps though surely ? Especially when you walk there in the afternoons.......
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>> I can't
>> remember the details but I think it was the AA who found that some huge
>> percentage of car journeys were to and from work and were of less than 2
>> miles.
I bet their exhausts are in good condition :-)
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>> I bet their exhausts are in good condition :-)
Bet their arteries aren't.
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I am safe from you then, my contract requires me to have the car at work in case they want to use it as a pool car.
Pity all the nurses working in the city centre hospitals in Birmingham, if it happens they should be charged the same as the partners in the big law firms, after all a parking space is a parking space, doesn't matter if you put a Kia or a Bentley in it.
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Common sense alert, lets hope Pip Hammond isn't just headline grabbing.
Country in a mess with no end in sight so lets all try and work together with the emphasis on work?
Not a chance, red robbo still alive and well i see and now presumably leading Notts council... into the toilet.
I hope Boots do move if this happens, i imagine at this very minute more enlightened councils are gearing up to provide as much help and ease as they can to tempt a responsible respectable company to set up shop in their boroughs, and the many thousands of jobs that will come with it.
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Boots site at Beeston is actually one of the best industrial locations in the area, if not the UK, for public transport provision. Main line railway station right next to the site and god knows how many buses. Large tracts of housing within cycling distance and a good network of cycle routes.
It should in fact serve as a model of how public transport should be used to reduce commuting by car.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Wed 25 Aug 10 at 22:45
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Difficult to see why free office parking's not taxed as a benefit in kind.
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>> Difficult to see why free office parking's not taxed as a benefit in kind.
>>
Wait till they've taxed all the cars off the road.... pedal cycles will be the next target, then you'll be whistling a different tune! ;-)
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All those town halls with massive car parks and free parking in public car parks for those that can't get in the on site car parks.
I wonder if the latter will be charged.
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nhs give you points BT
if you fail on points you dont get to park on designated paid daily by yourselves places
you couldnt make it up........
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I think i need to clarify something
As the business rate payer you are responsible for paying this parking tax of approx £350 per space,this is whether these spaces are used or not so its basically another back door tax on business,this is why i disapprove and so does pip
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>> Difficult to see why free office parking's not taxed as a benefit in kind.
Under certain circumstances it is.
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My base location is home. And I work from home quite a bit at the moment. I need a fixed IP address to get access to customer systems so I get that via VPN.
I hope I don't get 'taxed' for parking spaces at our Manchester office. Ever! And I only got a 1.6% payrise this year as it is.
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Like many others, I go to an office every day because my employer, and my contract of employment dictate that I do so. I derive no pleasure from it, and do so burning fuel, over half of the cost of which is tax. This comes out of my own pocket.
To do this journey by public transport, factoring in the cost of parking at the nearest station (5 miles away), would take twice as long, and would cost four times as much as the car. It would also leave me a mile short of the office. Fine on a nice summer's day, but on a day like this?
The idea of paying additional tax for this "privilege" of doing a necessary journey in the minimum amount of time.....frankly my thoughts would blow up the swear filter.
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>> Like many others, I go to an office every day because my employer, and my
>> contract of employment dictate that I do so.
Your place of employment and or your place of residence was your choice. Think of those who have to spend over 6 grand a year to commute by train.
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I can see both points of view. In my case, when I started to work for this company I was based in Manchester city centre. The Arndale bomb changed that and we relocated. We have relocated as a team a few times and had company reorganisations. If we were still near the airport I'd go in anyway. Going to our current office is a bit of a pain and I'd achieve less.
So better to work from home when appropriate. Last project was in Swindon and this one Edinburgh.
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>> So better to work from home when appropriate.
This is the real answer to cutting rush hour congestion. Unfortunately, many companies won't allow it. Mine is one. I could work from home one or two days a week quite easily, but the senior management view this as completely unacceptable. As do most Japanese bosses.
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No. My place of employment is the nearest I could practically find which utilises the skillset that I have, and pays the salary I need to support my family. I could not afford a house within walk/bus distance of where I work.
The idea that everyone can choose to live near their work is as outdated and impractical as the concept of a job for life.
And Zero, a train season ticket for me is a whisker over £6k. And still doesn't get me within a mile of work. Or cover the parking costs at the station.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 25 Aug 10 at 23:33
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>> As do most Japanese bosses.
Our parent company is a Japanese company. So you can probably figure who I work for.
Thankfully when we sold the old house for lots of money in December and later bought this one for less in May.... I could get by on a lot less money. The plan is to save it. I should make myself save 40-50% of take home pay. And without a mortgage that is realistic - I don't earn that much to be honest. Well a good wage plus car.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 00:02
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>> No. My place of employment is the nearest I could practically find which utilises the
>> skillset that I have, and pays the salary I need to support my family. I
>> could not afford a house within walk/bus distance of where I work.
Exactly - in the standard to which you aspire. Your commmute and its costs is a circumstance of you balancing the best lifestyle and salary for your skillset. You could if you so wish tip the balance either way, its YOUR choice. Ultimately your commute was CHOSEN by you.
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I get what you're saying, Zero, but hypothetically speaking, if I took a pay cut in the order of 30-40% to be within public transport/foot/cycle distance of work, and started at the bottom somewhere else, I would then make up some of the shortfall in all the new benefits / tax credits that my lower salary would entitle me to, while paying significantly less tax. I'd like to see what would happen to the economy if even a small proportion of the workforce did that.
Of course it doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, but the country could not afford for that to happen to any significant degree.
Jobs these days are volatile and cannot be relied upon. I know so many people who've been made redundant or had contracts terminated early in the last two years, it's actually terrifying. Putting the issue of house prices to one side for a minute, if I move to a location where I can sensibly get to work without a car, who's to say I still have this same job in 6 months? And I cannot earn the same salary locally. So what choice is that, in reality?
I agree, you have a choice to live close to the job you want, or take a lower paid job to be closer to home. But who in today's economic climate and job market, can afford to do so?
Last edited by: DP on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 09:23
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Not only is the job market voilatile in work location, so is work itself.
As RTJ intimates, the IT game is polarising rapidly. Anything that can be done at a central site is outsourced to Mumbai. ANything that requires on site work is spread all over the country, requiring time in hotels away from home or very long commutes.
The next step in IT is called crowd sourcing. YOu wont be employed by your company, but contracted to them. They will call you to work in teams as, when and where you are required. No pension, No sick pay, No company car, and the worse part? you cant work for someone else in case of conflict of interest or unavailability.
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>> The next step in IT is called crowd sourcing. YOu wont be employed by your
>> company, but contracted to them. They will call you to work in teams as, when
>> and where you are required. No pension, No sick pay, No company car, and the
>> worse part? you cant work for someone else in case of conflict of interest or
>> unavailability.
>>
But fortunately unlikely to happen in that way. Obviously, if as a contractor you're forbidden from working for another company, you'd be deemed to be employed by the first company you're contracting for.
HMRC take a dim view on this, because contracting their permanent employees is a nasty way for companies to avoid National Insurance contributions and a vast chunk of employment law. With IR35 in the UK there aren't any financial advantages for the contractor, either.
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Agree with DP... I wouldn't work for an employer who didn't provide sufficient free parking.
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Why should a business that provides off-street parking be taxed? Surely it would make more sense to tax those that don't, so adding to parking congestion?
I notice the subtle injection of the words "any company that fills in a business rates form". That presumably exempts local councils, with their vast car parks for staff?
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>> Why should a business that provides off-street parking be taxed? Surely it would make more
>> sense to tax those that don't, so adding to parking congestion?
>>
Apart from the obvious money grabbing, which I suspect is the main reason... The only other idea is that by taxing spaces, the cost which they hope will be passed down to the users, it will reduce those who use their car to commute... I agree that there are many who do need their car to go to work, but there are an awful lot who use it when there is alternative transport available and add to the jam... It can be seen every day on major roads into all big towns and cities throughout the UK!
BTW how can you have parking "congestion"? I always relate congestion to something trying to move but can't or only slowly! ;-)
Last edited by: hobby on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 09:37
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Congestion, like car park full, cars parking on neighbouring roads, visitors struggling to find any spaces to park. Like today at work. Also expecting a mobile wheel repairer any minute now-now that will cause congestion.
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>> >>
>> BTW how can you have parking "congestion"?
>>
Nose to tail parking along both sides of roads restricts available road width, and also slows traffic as vehicles manoeuvre into spaces. It also causes restrictions and dangers to pedestrians, and cyclists.
It seems to me the aim ought to be to encourage off-street parking, not the reverse.
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>> by taxing spaces
Where I used to work, a large decorative flower bed was dug up and levelled over to provide an extra 10 parking spaces for employees' cars. It could easily be dug up again and returned to decorative use to save £3,500 a year in tax. The employees would park on the road outside as before - is that what the tax is trying to achieve??
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 11:13
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>> The employees would park on the road outside as before - is that what the
>> tax is trying to achieve??
>>
I can see many company car parks becoming landscaped areas, that would divert the income to the council as on road parking fees and fines. No win for the punter.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 11:31
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Of course it's just another revenue generating ploy. No one could fail to recognise that.
But....if a side effect of the main intention was to encourage those who could easily walk or cycle to work to do so then that has equally undeniable benefits at a number of levels. It benefits the atmosphere, it benefits the health of the individual and it cuts traffic congestion.
I drive around 40k a year in the course of my work. In other words a lot, but I wouldn't dream of using my car to nip into town which is about 1.5 miles away. I walk or cycle on those occasions unless I have something large, heavy or bulky to transport.
Much car use is a function of laziness and the general health of the population is compromised by this.
I don't particularly support this tax but I do support any measures which encourage people to think twice before unnecessarily using cars when walking or cycling would actually be the better option.
An example springs to mind from my own head office. A female colleague who lives just over a mile from the office drives to work every day. She parks outside the office and sits at a computer all day and then drives home. She is grossly overweight and constantly trying new "diets". She claims she doesn't have time to excercise......Duh, go figure......
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 11:35
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...and the general health of the population...
Humph,
I'm sure your concern for the general wellbeing of the population is genuine, unlike the concern expressed by the authorities, which is largely self-seeking.
But nanny state-ism is to be resisted and derided, wherever it comes from.
.
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>> A female colleague who lives
>> just over a mile from the office drives to work every day. She parks outside
>> the office and sits at a computer all day and then drives home.
And at that distance she's not even saving much time; about 10 minutes on a bike.
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To be fair, it'd need to be a strong bike....
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>> I wouldn't work for an employer who didn't provide sufficient free parking.
There are lots of companies in central London who pay high salaries but no parking :)
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>> I hope I don't get 'taxed' for parking spaces at our Manchester office. Ever! And
>> I only got a 1.6% payrise this year as it is.
You were lucky to get a payrise.
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London is not comparable due to the fact that they have public transport which works...so no need to drive...
It's all a devious ploy to ensure all viable businesses migrate to green sites with councils who do not charge for parking: thus raising CO2 emissions.
Joined up thinking? Whatsthat...
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Pay rise? Wozzat then?
At least my present employer came clean and made a blanket statement that there'd be no increases this year. A previous employer of mine made weasel word history with 'we have decided to extend the merit increase cycle'.
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Same here, WDB. I haven't had so much as a cost of living increase for 2 years now. Frankly, given what was going on in our company in 2008/9, I counted myself lucky to have simply kept my job. In that year, so many friends and colleagues were thrown on the dole queue, it was unreal.
This is why I find the various unions whining and threatening hell and high water over "derisory" 2.something percent offers completely intolerable. Try living in the real world!
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We were lucky in the Haulage world, we only took a 1.5% reduction 18 months ago and still haven't got it back. The average reduction for lorry drivers was 5% and some as high as 13%. It was that or lose jobs but I don't know of any who have got it back yet.
And as for the fat lady who drives to work, we should remember that she's doing what she wants to with her body and her health. She bought the car with her money and has just as much right to use it as she wishes, as anyone else.
Pat
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The fat lady can do what she likes If I don't have to pay for her subsequent health problems.
I understand the NHS is funded entiurely through taxation so I will pay eventuually for her diabetes/stroke/gastric band/hip operation or whatever obesity brings with it...
Funny how those defending the righst of others to abuse their bodies foregt we all end up paying for it...literally
Last edited by: madf on Thu 26 Aug 10 at 18:01
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She also has to pay for your health care..........and sporting injuries that she clearly doesn't incur.
Pat
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Aye true enough Pat. If she hit anything while riding a bike it'd cause a lot of damage.
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See, if you look a bit harder you can find a good side to anything.
My glass is always half full:)
Pat
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Wise words madf.
Or are they. I often wonder if people who proclaim like yourself that healthcare for everyone including self inflicted conditions are an affront, are no more than a loved one's lung cancer treatment invoice away from a rethink.
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>> It was that or lose jobs but I don't know of any who have got it back yet.
I've heard of one operator who has just reversed their 2009 pay cuts. Pat, you have more details in your FB inbox.
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FB?
fat bum
fat burns
fillet beef
forever gorgeousk
????????????????
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Flying banana, BB. Sheesh, don't you know anything?
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Bristol City Council seem keen to bring it in and wheeled out council representative for the TV who said it was a green initiative to keep cars at home. Then he admitted he has a council parking space and would still park there - mainly it seemed because the council (us really of course) would pay anyway! At £250 annually even if I had to pay it myself that's about 2½ months of using the Bristol Park and Ride buses, so it's still a bargain!!
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you park at work so you may have to pay - Runfer D'Hills
