#
|
Y Pwyllgor Deisebau | 9 Ionawr 2018
Petitions Committee | 9 January 2018
|
|
e-Petition number: P-05-791 Petition title: Terminate Private Parking Contracts at Welsh Hospitals Text of petition: It has been nearly 10 years since the Welsh Government abolished hospital parking charges yet Cardiff and Vale UHB still contracts Indigo Parking UK who ruthlessly rack up charges against hard working NHS staff and sick patients. The members of society who can least afford it! It is time to terminate private parking contracts across Welsh hospitals with immediate effect and stop these companies charging the weak and vulnerable. Additional Information: This petition aims to show support for those who have been charged by enforcement companies like Indigo Parking UK, often when they are at their most in need. Removing these companies should be a matter of Law and it should be shown that they are not welcome in Wales. |
Background
In March 2008, the then Health Minister, Edwina Hart AM, announced that free parking would apply from 1 April 2008 at all NHS hospitals, except where external contracts were in place. The former NHS Trusts that had external contracts in place were expected to reduce parking fees, and were required to propose and fund schemes to reduce costs until contracts expired or ended.
With regards to Welsh NHS hospital sites that currently have parking contracts still in place, Barry Hospital, St David’s Hospital and University Hospital Llandough sites have parking contracts with Parking Eye which end on 31 October 2018 and the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) Cardiff site has a parking contract with Indigo that ends in March 2018.
The cost of parking at UHW has been frozen and has not risen with inflation since 2008. Patients who require an extended period of treatment or relatives visiting for an extended period can purchase an Alpha Pass which offers a reduced rate.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Indigo, the company who manage parking on the UHW site, have agreed a new set of measures to improve the car parking on the UHW site which came into force on 1 April 2016. A series of short term measures were put in place, with a view to providing longer term, more sustainable solutions that aim to improve access and traffic flow as well as parking facilities.
As part of a re-negotiated contract, Indigo agreed to suspend the enforcement of parking charge notices to the end of March 2016. As of 1 April 2016, new contractual arrangements are in place until the contract with Indigo ceases in 2018.
Welsh Government action
The Welsh Government’s response to the petition confirms that there is an external car parking contract in place at UHW until March 2018 and that where external contracts have been in place, the NHS organisations were asked to reduce costs until the contracts ended. The response also notes that the costs of withdrawing from the individual contracts were considered prohibitive.