There was little to excite motorists in Labour’s 2017 election manifesto. The only notable inclusion was the party’s pledge to allow visitors to English hospitals to park their cars for free.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claims the current charges should be abolished, as they are “a tax on serious illness” and an “unnecessary burden on families.”
The pledge goes on to state that the lost revenue would be made up in other areas, with insurance premium tax seeing an 8% rise and a premium tax of 20% on private health insurance products. Labour asserts that this tax rise will suffice to cover the £162 million cost of providing free parking at English NHS hospitals.
A recent investigation found that the most expensive hospital in the country to park at is the Royal Surrey in Guildford. An average two-hour stay there costs £4. The same study found the Royal Surrey made £1,421,172 from parking charges and fines. In 2015-16, NHS trusts in England netted £120,662,650 in car park charges, up from £114,873,867 the year before.
Meanwhile, a nursing union found that it can cost up to £100 per month for nurses to park at their workplace. In some cases, nurses were having to rush out in-between tending to patients to avoid being fined.
Embarrassment for the Conservatives
Labour’s pledge is an embarrassment for the Conservatives, who despite promising on numerous occasions to take away the “stress” of unfair parking charges, have yet to amend any policies
Hospitals’ fees are not the only issue facing UK residents when it comes to car parking. Fees are rising around the country, by up to 17% in some areas. In addition, recent reports show that private companies handed out 25% more parking fines to motorists over the last year. Parking companies spend an estimated £12 million pounds annually on penalising drivers.
While many English residents would welcome the new free parking scheme, we remain sceptical about the damage that the extra tax charges could do to our wallets (although – arguably – the proposed tax does seem like the lesser of two evils). It is great to see a party putting effort into combating some of the everyday difficulties that motorist’s face. With the Conservative election manifesto soon to be released, we would love to see the current government rise to the challenge of doing more in this area.
Would you be happy with this Labour manifesto pledge to scrap hospital parking fees? What else would you like to see in the Conservative manifesto? Let us know in the comments below.
Image credit – PEXELS
Pledges . All political pledges at election times should be taken with a pinch of salt how many come to fruition I believe no pledges wait and see
If parking is free, you’ll never get a space. This is a bad policy. There are loads of offices near my local hospital; workers will park there for free. We charge for parking just like we charge for everything else: so people don’t take advantage. Just monitor it, you say. Okay. Who will pay the car park attendants?
How ridiculous can this get, they keep on saying that the NHS is underfunded and that they will put more money into it then say they will stop parking charges which will take money from the hospitals , then they will have to put even more money into it to compensate the loss
Sorry to disagree: but very few hospitals actually gain funds from parking, as most are eaten up by contractual fees to parking admin companies.
Sorry to disagree but hospitals get a contractual payment from the parking company for enforcing and charging for the parking and although I disagree with being charged for legitimate use of parking at hospitals it does help keep them available from the none hospital users as mentioned by others.
I’m not going to argue about NHS funding, as it’s separate whole story and I have my opinion about this.
But, the the parking should be free for *patients* only (and dad’s to be) – it’s quite easy to enforce. It’s just enough parking tickets are cleared at the reception when the visit starts. Charges for anybody else should remain or be even higher to stop people from using it against their purpose.
I believe this is promise that Labour is not going to deliver.
Taking 2 local hospitals as examples (PRUH at Orpington/Bromley and Beckenham Beacon) this idea would only work with sophisticated refund procedures as both would fill up at 7-8 a.m. with commuters and other more local workers. Not an insoluble problem, but possibly expensive in its own right.
Should also only apply to people with an appointment, not visitors, as same problem would ensue.
Overall though, not a reason to vote Socialist/Marxist.
Labour pledge to do this? This was an SNP tactic in Scotland, you know the SNP that Labour are against. Stop stealing the SNP’s ideas.
The Scottish Government scrapped parking fees at Hospitals in 2008… but only NHS-owned hospitals, that doesn’t include hospitals built under PFI, one of which is the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The Lothian NHS looked at buying out the parking contract but it was too costly. There are many complaints about the cost of parking at the RIE, but a voucher discount system exists. Red (Trauma, bereavement) and Blue (long-term visiting/attending) vouchers can be obtained, but only if requested. The snag is that the NHS staff are not allowed to offer these vouchers, the visitors have to ask for them… with no information as to whom they should ask. I did a bit of digging and found that the visitors have to ask the relevant ward sister, who will then look at the circumstances and offer the voucher if deemed appropriate. The hospitals affected are the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), whose car park is run by Consort Healthcare, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where Impregilo has the PFI parking deal, and Ninewells in Dundee, with parking run by Vinci Park.
Nothing in life is free, despite what politicians tell lies about to get your vote.
In Wales hospital car parking (and all prescriptions) are already free. Free parking by office staff is prevented by simply showing your NHS ID if an employee or appointment letter if a patient.
You say that hospital parking is free in Wales. Not the one I go to, University Hospital Cardiff is certainly not free. Most paid hospital parking is under contract with private firms and until those contracts run out payment will have to continue.
I would rather pay a hospital parking charge only when I need to be there rather than having my house, car, life and other insurable “products” increase by 8% over my lifetime – and caning private medical insurance with a 20% increase in tax will only serve to take more people out of private treatment and back into the NHS – which will increase the use of the hospital car parks. What a load of rubbish this Manifesto seems to be – not costed or thought through at all
Watford General Hospital car park is also used by Watford FC during home games … wouldn’t that complicate matters? I certainly think hospital staff should not have to pay to park in their workplace, it is a disgrace! But how would the car park attendants be able to differentiate between hospital visitors and club members? Whilst I would welcome the move to remove parking fees for hospital visitors I cannot see how this could be managed under such circumstances. Someone has to police it and they have to be paid so where would the money come from for this? Likewise, who will pay for the car park maintenance? Come on Jeremy, how do you answer this one?
For those who remember free parking at hospitals, the car parks were too small and poorly kept as there was no incentive for adequate provision. Someone has to pay for the land, maintenance and administration, this will just take more money out of the NHS. Any one who is unfortunate enough to use this facility regularly can usually get a special deal if they ask the question. The NHS is a specialist in health care not running a car park. This is just a vote trapper for those who fall for it.
Here in west Wales our genius of a hospital trust managed to sign a long term car parking contact with a private contractor five days before the Labour Welsh Government brought the measure in despite them already knowing it would be brought in.
The contractors have made no extra provision for the increase in Staff and patient parking that amalgamating all the areas hospitals into one have brought and the staff, although encouraged to use the local park and ride for free on production of their staff passes can’t do so as the park and ride isn’t open when their shifts start and finish. This all results in HELL for the local residents who can’t park outside their houses and missed appointments as parking is so bad.
What’s the solution, well a multi-story car park or a better park and ride might help, but what’s really needed is a bit more joined up thinking. Don’t have outpatient clinics at the same time as visitor hours would be a start, have a dedicated park and ride that served just the hospital with the buses able to get into the grounds rather than dropping off outside.
Chesterfield royal hospital was free parking when it opened in 1982 BUT as usual it was abused by motorists parking in the hospital car park and catching a bus into town to avoid parking charges. Let’s go back to registration sign in for appointments and staff parking. Anyone caught abusing the system clamped and fined.
LABOUR HAVE DEFINATELY LOST MY VOTE ON THIS ONE! i VISIT MY LOCAL HOSPITAL ON NUMEROUS OCCASSIONS EACH YEAR FOR NOT ONLY SELF BUT ALSO FAMILY MEMBERS. OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL HAS A DEDICATED FOOTPATH TO A NEARBY UNDERGROUND STATION WITH TRAINS EVERY FEW MINUTES TO LONDON’S WEST END AND THE CITY. IF FREE PARKING WERE ALLOWED COMMUTERS WILL USE THE CAR PARKS FOR FREE AND PATIENTS AND VISITORS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PARK ON SITE. FURTHERMORE, THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE PARKING AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN THE VICINITY DUE EVERY ROAD BEING EITHER SINGLE OR DOUBLE YELLOW LINED OR PART OF A RESIDENTS PARKING ZONE(CPZ).
BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF A CPZ IN MY AREA I COULD NOT FIND ANYWHERE TO PARK ON RETURN HOME IF I WENT OUT DUE TO COMMUTERS ACCESSING MY OWN LOCAL STATION.
I SAY KEEP HOSPITAL PARKING CHARGES, REDUCE THEM PLEASE AND RETAIN CPZs BUT AGAIN REDUCE THE CHARGES TO RESIDENTS.
Free parking at all hospitals is one of a number of proposals from Labour that I would love to see brought in but sadly, as Labour doesn’t stand a “cat in hell’s chance” of winning the election – it ain’t going to happen !!
What next from Labour, they seem to be clutching at straws. Free car parking at hospitals will not work, because it is then left open to all car owners to park and go elsewhere away from visiting or going for appointments. The hospital should void a ticket if the person or persons stay longer than two hours, but not to charge a large fee in the first place, this includes long term visitors. Staff should be allowed to park for free.
Of course parking charges at hospitals should be scrapped but Labour is no friend of the motorist & so this is a blatant bribe for people to vote Labour. Nobody should ever vote based on a single issue, thogh sadly few will ever read the party manifestos before going to the ballot box. This election is about Brexit but as yet we do not know what red lines will be in the Conservative manifesto & we need the clean Brexit that Theresa May spoke about, when she outlined her objectives in the forthcomming negotiations.
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) has risen from 6% in 2011 to the next increase on Ist June which will make it 12% and now Labour want to make it 20%!
This will cover nearly all forms of insurance, at present only some life insurance policies have a lower rate.
Many new drivers suffer more because of their already much higher premiums.
Hence this will bring in billions of extra pounds and companies will just pass the increase on to the consumer.
AS USUAL IT IS GOVERNMENT POLICIES THAT DRIVE INFLATION.
Because of the general lack of parking, some hospital parking might be abused, but this could be worked out when booking hospital appointments. Anything can be worked out if the NHS was willing. Why is it only the English that pay? Also off subject but the Welsh and Scots get free prescriptions as well!
As for hospital staff having to pay, words just fail me, what has happened to this country!!!!!!!
Pledges . All political pledges at election times should be taken with a pinch of salt how many come to fruition I believe no pledges wait and see
If parking is free, you’ll never get a space. This is a bad policy. There are loads of offices near my local hospital; workers will park there for free. We charge for parking just like we charge for everything else: so people don’t take advantage. Just monitor it, you say. Okay. Who will pay the car park attendants?
How ridiculous can this get, they keep on saying that the NHS is underfunded and that they will put more money into it then say they will stop parking charges which will take money from the hospitals , then they will have to put even more money into it to compensate the loss
Sorry to disagree: but very few hospitals actually gain funds from parking, as most are eaten up by contractual fees to parking admin companies.
Sorry to disagree but hospitals get a contractual payment from the parking company for enforcing and charging for the parking and although I disagree with being charged for legitimate use of parking at hospitals it does help keep them available from the none hospital users as mentioned by others.
I’m not going to argue about NHS funding, as it’s separate whole story and I have my opinion about this.
But, the the parking should be free for *patients* only (and dad’s to be) – it’s quite easy to enforce. It’s just enough parking tickets are cleared at the reception when the visit starts. Charges for anybody else should remain or be even higher to stop people from using it against their purpose.
I believe this is promise that Labour is not going to deliver.
Taking 2 local hospitals as examples (PRUH at Orpington/Bromley and Beckenham Beacon) this idea would only work with sophisticated refund procedures as both would fill up at 7-8 a.m. with commuters and other more local workers. Not an insoluble problem, but possibly expensive in its own right.
Should also only apply to people with an appointment, not visitors, as same problem would ensue.
Overall though, not a reason to vote Socialist/Marxist.
Labour pledge to do this? This was an SNP tactic in Scotland, you know the SNP that Labour are against. Stop stealing the SNP’s ideas.
The Scottish Government scrapped parking fees at Hospitals in 2008… but only NHS-owned hospitals, that doesn’t include hospitals built under PFI, one of which is the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The Lothian NHS looked at buying out the parking contract but it was too costly. There are many complaints about the cost of parking at the RIE, but a voucher discount system exists. Red (Trauma, bereavement) and Blue (long-term visiting/attending) vouchers can be obtained, but only if requested. The snag is that the NHS staff are not allowed to offer these vouchers, the visitors have to ask for them… with no information as to whom they should ask. I did a bit of digging and found that the visitors have to ask the relevant ward sister, who will then look at the circumstances and offer the voucher if deemed appropriate. The hospitals affected are the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), whose car park is run by Consort Healthcare, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where Impregilo has the PFI parking deal, and Ninewells in Dundee, with parking run by Vinci Park.
Nothing in life is free, despite what politicians tell lies about to get your vote.
In Wales hospital car parking (and all prescriptions) are already free. Free parking by office staff is prevented by simply showing your NHS ID if an employee or appointment letter if a patient.
You say that hospital parking is free in Wales. Not the one I go to, University Hospital Cardiff is certainly not free. Most paid hospital parking is under contract with private firms and until those contracts run out payment will have to continue.
I would rather pay a hospital parking charge only when I need to be there rather than having my house, car, life and other insurable “products” increase by 8% over my lifetime – and caning private medical insurance with a 20% increase in tax will only serve to take more people out of private treatment and back into the NHS – which will increase the use of the hospital car parks. What a load of rubbish this Manifesto seems to be – not costed or thought through at all
Watford General Hospital car park is also used by Watford FC during home games … wouldn’t that complicate matters? I certainly think hospital staff should not have to pay to park in their workplace, it is a disgrace! But how would the car park attendants be able to differentiate between hospital visitors and club members? Whilst I would welcome the move to remove parking fees for hospital visitors I cannot see how this could be managed under such circumstances. Someone has to police it and they have to be paid so where would the money come from for this? Likewise, who will pay for the car park maintenance? Come on Jeremy, how do you answer this one?
For those who remember free parking at hospitals, the car parks were too small and poorly kept as there was no incentive for adequate provision. Someone has to pay for the land, maintenance and administration, this will just take more money out of the NHS. Any one who is unfortunate enough to use this facility regularly can usually get a special deal if they ask the question. The NHS is a specialist in health care not running a car park. This is just a vote trapper for those who fall for it.
Here in west Wales our genius of a hospital trust managed to sign a long term car parking contact with a private contractor five days before the Labour Welsh Government brought the measure in despite them already knowing it would be brought in.
The contractors have made no extra provision for the increase in Staff and patient parking that amalgamating all the areas hospitals into one have brought and the staff, although encouraged to use the local park and ride for free on production of their staff passes can’t do so as the park and ride isn’t open when their shifts start and finish. This all results in HELL for the local residents who can’t park outside their houses and missed appointments as parking is so bad.
What’s the solution, well a multi-story car park or a better park and ride might help, but what’s really needed is a bit more joined up thinking. Don’t have outpatient clinics at the same time as visitor hours would be a start, have a dedicated park and ride that served just the hospital with the buses able to get into the grounds rather than dropping off outside.
Chesterfield royal hospital was free parking when it opened in 1982 BUT as usual it was abused by motorists parking in the hospital car park and catching a bus into town to avoid parking charges. Let’s go back to registration sign in for appointments and staff parking. Anyone caught abusing the system clamped and fined.
LABOUR HAVE DEFINATELY LOST MY VOTE ON THIS ONE! i VISIT MY LOCAL HOSPITAL ON NUMEROUS OCCASSIONS EACH YEAR FOR NOT ONLY SELF BUT ALSO FAMILY MEMBERS. OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL HAS A DEDICATED FOOTPATH TO A NEARBY UNDERGROUND STATION WITH TRAINS EVERY FEW MINUTES TO LONDON’S WEST END AND THE CITY. IF FREE PARKING WERE ALLOWED COMMUTERS WILL USE THE CAR PARKS FOR FREE AND PATIENTS AND VISITORS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PARK ON SITE. FURTHERMORE, THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE PARKING AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN THE VICINITY DUE EVERY ROAD BEING EITHER SINGLE OR DOUBLE YELLOW LINED OR PART OF A RESIDENTS PARKING ZONE(CPZ).
BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF A CPZ IN MY AREA I COULD NOT FIND ANYWHERE TO PARK ON RETURN HOME IF I WENT OUT DUE TO COMMUTERS ACCESSING MY OWN LOCAL STATION.
I SAY KEEP HOSPITAL PARKING CHARGES, REDUCE THEM PLEASE AND RETAIN CPZs BUT AGAIN REDUCE THE CHARGES TO RESIDENTS.
Free parking at all hospitals is one of a number of proposals from Labour that I would love to see brought in but sadly, as Labour doesn’t stand a “cat in hell’s chance” of winning the election – it ain’t going to happen !!
What next from Labour, they seem to be clutching at straws. Free car parking at hospitals will not work, because it is then left open to all car owners to park and go elsewhere away from visiting or going for appointments. The hospital should void a ticket if the person or persons stay longer than two hours, but not to charge a large fee in the first place, this includes long term visitors. Staff should be allowed to park for free.
Of course parking charges at hospitals should be scrapped but Labour is no friend of the motorist & so this is a blatant bribe for people to vote Labour. Nobody should ever vote based on a single issue, thogh sadly few will ever read the party manifestos before going to the ballot box. This election is about Brexit but as yet we do not know what red lines will be in the Conservative manifesto & we need the clean Brexit that Theresa May spoke about, when she outlined her objectives in the forthcomming negotiations.
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) has risen from 6% in 2011 to the next increase on Ist June which will make it 12% and now Labour want to make it 20%!
This will cover nearly all forms of insurance, at present only some life insurance policies have a lower rate.
Many new drivers suffer more because of their already much higher premiums.
Hence this will bring in billions of extra pounds and companies will just pass the increase on to the consumer.
AS USUAL IT IS GOVERNMENT POLICIES THAT DRIVE INFLATION.
Because of the general lack of parking, some hospital parking might be abused, but this could be worked out when booking hospital appointments. Anything can be worked out if the NHS was willing. Why is it only the English that pay? Also off subject but the Welsh and Scots get free prescriptions as well!
As for hospital staff having to pay, words just fail me, what has happened to this country!!!!!!!