WEST FIFERS have been urged to contact their MSPs to have their say on plans to introduce workplace parking taxes.

The call has been made by Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley, who is opposed to proposals which could see workers having to stump up around £400 to park at work.

As the Press reported earlier this year, Fife Council ruled out the tax until 2022 while deciding their budget, but Mr Rowley said it could be brought in at a later date and would still affect people travelling to work outwith Fife.

“The Transport Bill is making its way through Parliament and it is on the back of that that the Government intend to bring in this new power to bring forward a workplace tax levy,” he explained.

“It is therefore up for grabs every year in the budget. If the council was desperate for money, if this goes through Parliament and is passed, they could decide to use this at any point.

“What I am saying is this is a Scotlandwide issue in that we don’t believe that this should be introduced at all. That is why I am urging people to write to their MSP to tell them.

“The current council administration said if they had it, they would not use it, but in future years they could. Workers remain vulnerable to this tax. It is not the way to treat workers.

“I was down at Mowi in Rosyth today and the car park was absolutely full so that is a classic example of people going to their work.”

The MSP also highlighted Rosyth Dockyard and the Diageo Plant in Leven as two other large employers who have workers travelling to get there.

“There are many communities who do not have good public transport for these workers to use and the proposal is that the workers will be penalised because they need to use their car to get to work,” he added.

“The SNP and Greens are trying to dress this proposed punitive tax up as an environment tax but actually it will alienate workers and do very little to help the environment.

“If we are to tackle climate change then we must take people with us and work together to do so. Slapping a £400-a- year parking tax on workers will not achieve anything other than alienate people, take money out the pockets of workers and potentially cause mayhem in the surrounding streets.”

Mid-Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Dean Lockhart also spoke out against what he said would be an “unfair” charge which he said would hit hard-working commuters across the region who travel to Edinburgh or Glasgow.

“Fife Council have moved to rule out the unfair charge, and they were right to do so,” he said. “However, if as expected, Edinburgh and Glasgow councils adopt this measure, it will still affect thousands of my constituents across the region who commute by car into Scotland’s two major cities.

“The SNP car tax will hit hard-working families in the pocket for simply trying to make ends meet by driving to their work.

“It might work in a city, where people have the option to take public transport to work, but many people in parts of the MidScotland and Fife have to drive to work.”