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The Council has signed up to Greentravel2work, a new initiative from the employee benefits division of p&mm, a part of Motivcom plc.

Greentravel2work has been developed by p&mm in support of the Government's Green Travel Plan and will encourage staff who commute to use local bus services to and from the workplace instead of less sustainable forms of transport such as cars.

Adding to its cycle2work scheme, p&mm is believed to be the first benefits provider to launch and offer greentravel2work as an outsourced product to enable employers to offer bus travel incentives to staff.

Employees are given the option to choose an annual bus pass and pay for it monthly through their employer by deduction from their pay – a salary sacrifice. 

The employee saves because the salary sacrifice payment is exempt from income tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions up to 41%, while the employer does not pay NI on the salary sacrificed up to 12.8%.

An employee who is a higher rate tax payer will save £184.50 on a £450 a year annual bus pass while the employer will save £57.60 on NI at 12.8%.

Although Nottingham City Council is the first organisation to sign up to the scheme on behalf of its employees, many other major public and private sector employers have already confirmed interest and are working with p&mm to develop schemes for their staff.

The greentravel2work scheme is the latest addition to a comprehensive benefits package aimed at making the City Council an employer of choice for people locally and further afield.  Other employee benefits offered by the authority include flexible working; staff discounts, tax-free childcare vouchers and guaranteed training and development.

Michael Frater, Nottingham City Council Chief Executive, said:
“I am delighted that our successful partnership working with p&mm has delivered greentravel2work. This new addition to our award winning Works Perks portfolio of benefits will encourage more employees to choose bus travel and further increase the proportion of people who travel to work by public transport in Nottingham.

“Sustainable travel and reducing our carbon footprint is high on our agenda at Nottingham City Council.  We hope other private and public sector organisations will follow our lead.”

David Lebond, executive director responsible for the p&mm employee benefits division, commented:
“Many thousands of commuters will potentially be able to save enormous sums on the cost of travelling to work and contribute positively to the environment through this initiative.

“It will be a highly attractive benefit to both staff and employers who will find that it not only reduces their NI costs but helps with recruitment and retention. By supporting and encouraging more employees to change to public transport, the employer will also be able to demonstrate the organisation's corporate social responsibility commitment.

“Everyone wins – the employee, the employer, bus operators and the environment. This is a major new initiative for which there is already enormous demand.”