Debate contribution: Hospital Parking Charges Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Robin Swann on 16 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Robin Swann

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

16 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Hospital Parking Charges Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4483913

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thanks for the opportunity to open the debate on the Hospital Parking Charges Bill. First, I thank the Health Committee, which ceded Committee Stage so that the Bill can progress in a shorter time frame. As Members will recall, the Hospital Parking Charges Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly in March 2022, prohibits the imposition of charges for parking vehicles in hospital car parks and is due to come into operation on 12 May. Its main policy objective is to abolish hospital car parking charges across health and social care hospital sites in Northern Ireland for staff, patients and visitors. While I remain entirely sympathetic to the intentions behind the legislation, delays to the operational implementation of a traffic management system to control parking once charges are abolished means that there is a significant risk of detriment to patients and staff, and it is undoubtedly the case that the financial context for Health and other Departments has worsened considerably since the Act was passed. The Hospital Parking Charges Bill proposes to modify the operation of the Hospital Parking Charges Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 so as to postpone the ban on charging money for parking vehicles in hospital car parks.

If the Bill comes into operation on or before 12 May 2024, section 1 of the 2022 Act will mean that:

"No person may impose or recover a monetary charge with respect to the parking of a vehicle in a car park at a hospital by someone who is attending the hospital in a relevant capacity".

That would take effect on 12 May 2026. If the Bill comes into operation after 12 May 2024, section 1 of the 2022 Act ceases to have effect when the Bill comes into operation and resumes having effect on 12 May 2026.

Advice from health and social care trusts is that, if parking is made free without a traffic management system, they will be unable to control parking, preserve blue-light routes and protect designated spaces. They are now significantly concerned about the ability to maintain safe access to their sites for, as I said, patients, clients, visitors and staff. The resultant congestion on-site and at access and egress routes will contribute to delayed or missed hospital appointments, possibly including emergency treatments. As I said, many of us are aware of the traffic issues at HSC hospital sites. I am concerned that, owing to the delay in being able to implement the parking management solution, the current legislation, though clearly well intended, will make things worse for patients and staff by adding to demand for spaces, which will add further pressure to trust staff who are already dealing with huge challenges. Primarily, charging allows the car parks' capacity to be carefully managed and controlled to meet demand. Charging rates differ across health and social care trusts, so the rates applied are set at a level that is consistent with public car parks in the local environment to avoid an undesirable pull effect. Any changes to charging would change the dynamic of the local parking environment and impact on choices taken by non-permit-holding staff and commuters. It is envisaged that, once parking becomes free, without traffic controls in place, visitor car parks may reach full capacity by 8.30 am, Monday to Friday, and remain full until 4.30 pm on each of those days. That will, undoubtedly, prevent patients and visitors utilising the car parks during those times. That is expected to have a significant impact in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, which regionally has the highest number of charged parking spaces. Belfast Trust has highlighted to me a number of risks and impacts associated with the introduction of the current parking legislation without the desired automatic number plate recognition (NPR) parking controls in place. They include the fact that a reduction in car parking charges in Belfast City Hospital would increase the demand for the car park, as the hospital is within easy walking distance of the city centre. If the pricing were reduced to a level to make it cheaper than public car parking and public transport, the parking at the hospital would be more attractive than the alternative options. By charging at particular levels, trusts seek to dissuade inappropriate parking, ensuring that important capacity is available for those with a legitimate hospital-related need. Therefore, if the trusts reduced the tariff below the local commercial environment rates in the absence of the NPR parking solution being in place, they may find that they have introduced an equality issue, as legitimate users will struggle to access healthcare and hospital appointments and visits will be delayed or missed completely as a result of capacity pressures, with a significant increase in the number of complaints and negative media coverage. Without the parking controls in place, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust expects an increase in the number of staff using the car parks as well as other users from adjacent premises. On the Royal Victoria Hospital site, which is already prone to serious gridlock, it is expected that, once parking is free, parking queues will increase in length and time. That would put blue-light routes under serious additional risk and may delay or prevent emergency service vehicles reaching their emergency department. In addition, gridlock to the adjoining roads, especially the Donegall Road, Broadway roundabout and Grosvenor Road, will be negatively impacted, and, potentially, traffic congestion will increase in those areas. The community areas surrounding the parking sites will be impacted as staff, patients and visitors seek alternative parking options due to the car parks quickly reaching full capacity. That will have a negative impact on community relations and potentially lead to negative engagement. My primary concern is to protect access to hospitals for patients and staff. I therefore seek agreement to a Bill to defer the removal of charges for two years. While that may seem long to some colleagues, you will all know that my Department also faces unprecedented funding challenges. The removal of car parking charges would result in the loss of £7 million of revenue that is currently used to partially fund the £9 million expenditure associated with the operational upkeep and management of car parks. No additional capital or revenue funding has been made available to my Department for the implementation of the legislation. If it is not forthcoming in the 2024-25 Budget exercise, the costs would need to be met by reductions in other expenditure areas. Therefore, I propose to use the deferral period to implement fully the infrastructure required to manage free car parking and to develop a funding plan for the implementation of free car parking after the deferral period. The deferral will also allow trusts more time to explore whether car use can be reduced. That is a fundamental point, not just because of our responsibilities on climate change. At present, demand for car parking space already significantly exceeds capacity on some hospital sites. Increasing that demand by abolishing all charges is not without risk. Prior to the end of the two-year deferral period, my Department will bring to the Executive a paper that sets out how it intends to fund and manage the implementation of free parking going forward. I know that many colleagues supported the legislation because of the benefits to Health and Social Care staff, patients and visitors. Consequently, I propose proceeding with the option of making staff car parking permits free of charge at the same quantum as they currently are. As fair recognition of the hard work and dedication of Health and Social Care staff, that would allow the Executive to deliver at least some of the intent of the legislation. Concerns have been expressed around equality if staff permits are made free. I asked officials to consider a percentage reduction to all car parking costs as an alternative, but trusts advised that, when they conduct an equality impact screening assessment, they assess the impact on staff, patients and visitors separately, given the different capacity in which those groups visit the sites. Trusts advised that a blanket reduction of car parking charges is likely to have the unintended consequences of increasing demand for car parking spaces on hospital sites and incurring costs relating to the reconfiguration of equipment and signage. Charges across hospital sites are set in line with local car parks, so a reduction could increase demand for car parking spaces from the public, which, again, would be to the detriment of service users. In addition, concerns have been expressed around equality if staff permits are made free, as, due to capacity, not all staff who meet the criteria for a parking permit will have access to one, with many placed on a waiting list. Current car parking policy outlines that health and social care trusts should ensure that a reasonable allocation of spaces is made available for staff, taking into consideration the overall availability of car parking on the site and balancing the needs of patients and visitors. Where demand for car parking spaces on hospital sites is greater than the available capacity, to ensure a fair and consistent award process, I am directing health and social care trusts to regionally implement an assessment of demonstrated need for staff parking permits. The assessment criteria will take into consideration individual circumstances, operational requirements and the individual's ability to access alternative and sustainable forms of transport. For example, recommended criteria may include the requirement to use a private vehicle daily to deliver direct patient or client care, the requirement to provide regular clinics or services on more than one site, the requirement to participate on a scheduled rota for on call or the requirement to manage service staff on more than one site. Other criteria may include holding a blue badge through disability or, as a parent, guardian or carer, using a private vehicle to transport children or provide caring responsibilities on the way to or from a base site where public transport is not available. On the basis of the information that is available, there is nothing to indicate that the proposal to provide free car parking to permitted pass-holders would create an adverse impact on the promotion of good relations. Knowing the value that our Assembly colleague placed on the private Member's Bill, I do not make the proposal to postpone the operation date of the Act lightly. I do so to protect access to hospital sites for service users and because Health and Social Care no longer has the resources to deliver its services.

Yes.

I wanted to bring in legislation that had a time-bound limit to reassure those, including us, who supported the Bill at the start that this is a time-bound extension rather than a never-ending one, for which I would be rightly criticised and which would put the legislation at risk. Acknowledging that I remain entirely sympathetic to the intentions behind the original legislation, we have a fundamental problem now to address. Once the legislation comes into effect, free parking will inevitably encourage more people to use car parks on hospital sites, including staff, visitors, patients and those without any legitimate reason. I thank everyone for their patience while I provided the overview of the Bill. I hope that you will agree that the Bill is necessary to ensure safe access for staff, patients and visitors to our hospital services. I am conscious that I am asking the Assembly to make a difficult decision today. Unfortunately, given the budgetary challenges facing all Departments, there will be more difficult decisions to come, and we have to be honest with the public about that. Our collective financial position has deteriorated markedly since the free parking legislation was passed two years ago. I know that Members supported that measure for the best of motives, and I know that it reflected a genuine desire to show solidarity with health service staff, with patients and their families. However, the House will not be thanked if it allows a parking free-for-all to unfold from next month, with all the chaos and disruption that that would bring to traffic and vital services. Therefore, I ask Members to support the Bill.

2,035 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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