Park & Ride use by council staff
Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,
I notice that employees of Cheshire West Council do not pay to use the Park & Ride service to the town centre instead scanning their council I.D.
Can you confirm if this is classed as a taxable benefit in line with HMRC rules below and this is claimed from relevant staff using (PAYE)?:
As an employer covering your employees’ public transport costs, you have certain tax, National Insurance and reporting obligations.
What’s included
Public transport costs include:
•season tickets provided for employees
•season ticket costs reimbursed to employees
•loans made to employees to buy season tickets
•contributions to subsidised or free public bus transport
If this is not classed as a taxable benefit can it be confirmed why and what legal ruling is employed.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Hutt
Case Reference: 101004801193
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RE: Your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Case Reference: 101004801193
Dear Mr Hutt
Thank you for your email.
It will be treated as a request within the meaning of the Act: this means that we will send you a full response within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information which you want, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it.
If we need any further clarification or there is any problem we will be in touch.
In the meantime if you wish to discuss this further please contact FOI West. It would be helpful if you could quote the log number.
Yours sincerely
FOI Unit
Dear Nigel Hutt
Thank you for your request for information of 14^th March 2018 which has
been logged as 4801193 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. We confirm that Cheshire West and Chester Council
holds information relating to your request.
For the purpose of clarity your request has been reproduced below together
with pertinent information
I notice that employees of Cheshire West Council do not pay to use the
Park & Ride service to the town centre instead scanning their council I.D.
Can you confirm if this is classed as a taxable benefit in line with HMRC
rules below and this is claimed from relevant staff using (PAYE)?:
If this is not classed as a taxable benefit can it be confirmed why and
what legal ruling is employed.
The non-paying element extended to Council employees is not classed as a
taxable benefit.
Under Section 16 of the FOIA "Duty to provide advice and assistance, we
can advise that the gross cost to the Council of providing the Park and
Ride service is determined by the contract price that it pays to
Stagecoach for providing the required number of buses and the costs of
maintaining the car parks. These costs are largely fixed in terms of
whether they vary depending on whether Council staff use the Park and Ride
service or not. Hence, whether Council staff use the Park and Ride
service or not, will have no impact on the cost of providing the service.
The gross cost will not be impacted by whether the staff pay for the
service or whether they receive it free of charge. As the Council pays no
monies out solely for the provision of a Park and Ride service for its
employees there is no cost to the employer base on which to calculate any
taxable benefit.
The Park and Ride service is part of a wider green transport strategy and
is only granted to certain employees who are not reasonably able to use
public transport links and who work in an office whose planning
regulations limit the available amount of on-site parking.
We trust this answers your query.
The Council considers that your request has been answered in full by
either confirming that information is not held, providing you with the
information requested, or explaining why any information has been withheld
and the reasons for any redaction. Where applicable, the Council has also
told you the reasons for the delay in responding to your request.
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The Information Disclosures Team can be contacted by email via:
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Information Governance
Cheshire West and Chester Council
HQ
58 Nicholas Street
Chester
CH1 2NP
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[2]http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...
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Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
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Website: [3]www.ico.org.uk
There is no charge for making an appeal.
Yours sincerely
Information Governance
Cheshire West and Chester Council
FD
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Cheshire West and Chester Council request email]
2. http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
N.Siddle left an annotation ()
I am no tax or employment lawyer, but this answer appears to be fundamentally flawed. The clue is in the term “taxable BENEFIT” – not ‘taxable COST’. Whether the contract costs the Council any more or not than it would if the perk were not available is irrelevant. The benefit is that which the employee would have to pay for alternative arrangements were this arrangement not to exist.
The fact that the (previous) Council failed to ensure sufficient parking spaces to meet the need of its employees is neither here nor there in this context. A private employer in a similar situation would have to pay to provide parking provision (or, more likely, expect the employee to pay). Parking in Chester City centre is available commercially from numerous suppliers at about £5/day. It is therefore very easy to work out the ‘benefit’ being enjoyed by Council employees.
The Council’s logic also falls down on the basis of the ‘fixed cost’ aspect of the contract with Stagecoach. If it really was so badly negotiated that the majority of costs are ‘fixed’ then, logically, all P&R users should get free use. I would assume that the more paying travellers the P&R attracts, the lower will be the net cost to the Council of providing the service. Having a large proportion of non-paying passengers clearly imposes an unwelcome burden for Council Tax payers. (Some years ago, this proportion was some 7%. It may have changed since, but might just as easily have risen as fallen)
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N.Siddle left an annotation ()
I will be interested to see what response you get and whether it is the same as the one given to me previously by the previous administration, ie "Tickets are not declared to HMRC as they are exempt under the HMRC exemption rule for subsidies to public bus services – S243 ITEPA 2003."
(see:- https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...)
From memory, something like 7% of all P&R usage was for Council use and efffectively paid for by us via our council tax. I shall follow your request with interest..........