Boost for buses and Metro? Workplace parking levy is the answer say Liberal Democrats

Cllr Greg Stone has been taking part in council budget meetings for nearly a quarter of a century now, and over that time there has been little if any discussion of the Transport Levy payable by the council to fund public transport in Tyne and Wear, even though Newcastle is the largest contributor to it. Last night he told Newcastle City Council that over recent years the freezing of the Levy by Tyne & Wear Labour leaders has gone largely unnoticed, but the result of this has been to effectively limit transport spending in the region to 2010 levels.

Of the many stealth cuts this administration has implemented, this one has been fundamental in creating the transport budget crisis that has hit the Joint Transport Committee (JTC) this year and has resulted in £7.5m cuts to bus service subsidies with major impacts on fares on Metro and significant operating pressures for Nexus. For the past couple of years the public transport system has been reliant on Government bailout funding during the pandemic. But the stark reality for the JTC is that it allowed a budget deficit to exist even before the pandemic hit. The consequence has been the unseemly budget crisis of a few weeks ago when Newcastle told its fellows it was not prepared to agree the JTC's budget just before its scheduled meeting, only to roll over and pass it a few days later without any alternative proposals being put forward. That is not my definition of principled leadership.

In my view it is deeply problematic for the council leadership to seek to pose as the defenders of threatened bus services when they froze the Levy over recent years. This has been a crisis of their creation and the consequences are theirs. They rely on the usual tired platitudes - we need more money from Government - but they have been bailed out by them for some time now. They call on Government for more transport funding and more transport powers, but they have not shown themselves willing to raise the local transport funding contribution over recent years to discharge the powers they have effectively. And it is entirely because of the inability of Labour leaders on both sides of the Tyne to agree on an effective devolution model that we lack the transport powers granted to other regions. It is a bit rich to demand more transport powers when they have been unable to manage a sustainable budget and make responsible use of the powers they currently have.

So what then is the solution? I have been challenged in this chamber recently by members opposite as to what we would do. I would refer members to my recent Journal article which concluded that it is to generate additional revenue to fund public transport and active travel by linking the issues of car dependency and air quality by making an explicit connection between the costs to society and public health of car dependency and creating a revenue stream to fund qualitative improvements in public transport.

Our amendment seeks again to require the council to investigate and implement a Workplace Parking Levy. We could already be benefiting from this had the party opposite not voted it down last year. Since then I am pleased to tell council that officers have been asked to investigate the feasibility of introducing it here, and they have acknowledged clear evidence of its success in Nottingham, where it generates £9m of a revenue a year with no noticeable negative effects on the city's economy, and significant real benefits from cleaner air, reduced congestion, and an impressive tram system. Their assessment is it might take 3 to 5 years to introduce, but we could be getting that process under way. They also assess it could generate £5-6m in annual revenue, which the Opposition suggests could be allocated to systematic improvements in the cycle network, expanding the city's electric bus network, or ensuring a step change in provision of on-street EV charging infrastructure, which is an area where this council's Net Zero ambitions are sadly unmatched by anything remotely nearing adequate provision or planning.

It could also help to plug the gaps in the funding to deliver schemes like priority bus corridors, which are stuck in the slow lane given the massive disparity between the BSIP bid ask for £800m for the region and the funding available, and given the seeming inability of this administration to bring forward the full business cases for major transport schemes like the Coast Road corridor and others. The Opposition understands that if these are not in place by the end of March their Transforming Cities Fund regional allocation is potentially in jeopardy, and we are greatly concerned about the administration's bottlenecks in transport project management capacity.

Lord Mayor, there is a huge disconnect between the grandiose visions the council leadership claims for transport in Newcastle, for Net Zero, for clean air, for school streets, and the reality on the ground. Meanwhile, the city's road and pavement maintenance black hole gets ever deeper with no sign of it or them being fixed. It is little consolation to the public that the council is able to spend millions of pounds on expensive paving and public realm in the 200 yards in front of the Civic Centre on Barras Bridge when neighbourhood pavements and roads are in utter disrepair. And it adds insult to injury when we learn that the council is hiring solicitors and barristers to contest compensation claims against it in the small claims court by residents injured by this negligence.

If the council administration is unable to tackle these failings, then let us agree the amendment and get on with the Liberal Democrat Opposition's priorities and solutions instead.