Workplace parking levy: EIR release

Information requested

1. How many councils have taken advantage of the workplace parking levy legislation which was passed by the government in 2021?
2. How much money has been raised through this policy? Breakdown by council area.
3. All correspondence received and sent by Transport Scotland, including internal correspondence, regarding the workplace parking levy between August 2023 and the date of this FOI.

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your
request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

The answer to Part 1 and Part 2 of your question is that to date, no local authorities in Scotland have implemented a WPL scheme and therefore no revenue has been collected under a WPL scheme. In regards to Part 3 of your request, I enclose a copy of of the information you requested as a PDF attachment to this email.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene
the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

An exception under regulation 10(4)e of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. Regulation 10(4)(e) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the
EIRs) allows a Scottish public authority to withhold internal communications. The exception applies here because the information requested is internal correspondence between officials.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and discussion to ensure that policy work is informed and productive.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202300387067 - Information released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

615.5 kB