Easing of Plans for Staff Car Park Charges at Scarborough and Bridlington Hospitals

Thursday, 27 April 2023 06:00

By Matthew Pells with additional reporting from Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy reporter

The plan to reintroduce parking charges for staff at Scarborough and Bridlington hospitals is being revised after hospital bosses say they received "an awful lot of feedback".

Parking charges are being reintroduced in June after they were suspended during the pandemic.

But following feedback from staff and a one thousand signature petition, the hospital's Chief Exec - Simon Morritt - says the scheme has been revised meaning more staff will now qualify for free parking permits.

The revised parking scheme will see a change to the rules meaning staff that live more than 2 miles from Scarborough hospital or 1 mile from Bridlington hospital will be eligible for a parking permit.

Simon Morritt says they've listened to local staff.

Earlier this year the Trust announced that it will reintroduce staff parking charges from June 12 after they were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, with charges set to be standardised across sites with different rates depending on pay bands.

The reintroduction of charges has been criticised by staff, members of the public, and local councillors who have said that staff already feel “undervalued” and that public transport is not an option for many.

A petition against the reintroduction of the charges was also launched last month and has gathered more than 990 signatures.

While the parking charges will not be scrapped, the new changes will allow many staff members to apply for a free parking permit.

The Trust has also introduced automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology across all three sites.

At a meeting of the Trust’s board on Wednesday, April 26, the organisation’s chief executive, Simon Morritt, said that the planned parking charges would be revised and depending on the distance that staff lived from their place of work, they would be eligible to apply for a parking permit.

After the meeting, the chair of the board, Alan Downey, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the radius outside the hospitals – which would determine whether staff are eligible to apply for parking permits – would be two miles in Scarborough, five miles in York, and one mile in Bridlington