MSPs call to lift parking charges

An influential Holyrood committee has urged Glasgow health chiefs to lift parking charges for staff.

Frank McAveety, who heads the Scottish Parliament's petitions committee, said they should wait for the outcome of a government review.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said staff should be protected from unnecessary charges at NHS hospitals.

Hospital authorities have argued that the charges were important in tackling the problem of congestion.

Chris Paterson, who works at the high dependency unit at Gartnavel General hospital, told the petitions committee that charges of £7 per day at Glasgow hospitals for staff were very costly and that a lack of public transport had caused some workers to quit their jobs.

She cited reports that parking their cars in nearby streets had caused "irate confrontations" with residents and the vandalism of vehicles.

The committee also heard that the policy of allocating parking permits to those who used their cars most during the working day meant they mainly went to the highest earning staff, such as senior managers and consultants.

"Lower earners and shift workers are, in effect, being discriminated against," said Ms Paterson.

Existing policy

She agreed that there were parking charge concessions for night shift workers, but added: "It is the day shift workers who are most at risk, travelling between six and seven in the morning and then eight or nine at night, when public transport is limited and there are generally less people about.

"A member of staff who has taken to cycling was jumped on by five youths and knocked off the bike when going home one night."

Mr McAveety said: "While it is an autonomous body, the health board, there is no harm in drawing to the attention of the health board that we would expect them no to pursue these matters while the petitions committee is dealing with it and the health secretary's review."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has welcomed Ms Sturgeon's review, due to report in the spring, but stated that existing policy would remain in force in the meantime.

The authority said it had already seen "significant improvements" at the sites where it had been brought in - meaning patients and disabled drivers were able to park without problems for the first time.

bbc.co.uk, 20th November 2007