Conference

2008 Health Care Service Group Conference

Date

14 December 2007

Decision

Carried as Amended

Increasingly workers in the NHS face car parking charges as a ‘tax’ for working in an essential public service. We should start with the premise that parking should be free. Conference, therefore, seeks the issuing to branches of a negotiating guide and a national campaign on car parking based on the following principles (to be applied whoever operates the car park facility, NHS or private sector):

1)Due regard to wider environment and transport policies;

2)Good public transport access to hospitals taking account of shift patterns;

3)Travel plans which meet the needs of patients and staff;

4)Primacy of staff safety in travelling to/from place of work;

5)Charging not to be used by NHS employers or private companies as a means of generating income;

6)A set maximum charge for NHS staff;

7)Partnership involvement of staff in relation to NHS employers’ travel planning responsibilities, including any concessionary provisions where charging cannot be avoided;

8)A review of all car parking policies across the UK based on an ‘open book’ partnership approach;

9)Any income raised from car parking should be ring-fenced for expenditure on available and secure parking, good quality lighting and staff and visitor safety measures.