Agenda item

A representative from West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust will attend the meeting and provide an update on the plans for the hospital car parks.

Louise Gaffney, the Director of Strategy and Infrastructure spoke to the Scrutiny Committee about the results of the ‘listening exercise’ that had been carried out by the West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust.  The aim of the consultation was to involve people in the Trust’s decision-making process for the car park and other transport related matters.  There had been over 3,000 responses to the consultation.  It was clear from the responses that there were no easy answers, as there were many contradictory comments.  The Trust would not be able to implement all the suggestions submitted. 

Ms Gaffney informed Members about the proposals for the inter-site bus service.  The Trust would be promoting discounted fares for public transport to staff. 

The results of the consultation showed that 66% felt that blue badge holders should be given free parking.  The Trust had discussed the parking arrangements with members from the Disability Forum, who had stated that they were willing to pay for an appropriate service.  The matter would be discussed further when the hospital’s new car parking facilities had been developed.  17% of the responders stated they had blue badges. 

The majority of those who had selected an option had chosen option 3.  This included an hourly charging structure with no free parking time.  The Trust was re-considering the original option and adapting it.  It was felt that the 30-minute free waiting time should be retained.  582 of the responders had suggested different pay structures.  The concessions would be continued.

Ms Gaffney advised the Scrutiny Committee that the Trust would be making its decision on the charging structure and the charge for the intersite bus within the next two weeks.  The information would be circulated to contact groups and the media.

Members welcomed the news that blue badge holders would not be charged for parking when the new charging structure was introduced.  They were also pleased that the free 30-minute waiting time would be retained.  It was hoped that consultation would continue to be carried out by the Trust in the future.  Reference was made to the Task Group’s original recommendations and how Members had felt the introduction of an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system would be a solution.  Members asked the Trust to remember patients when it was making its decisions.

Ms Gaffney stated that the Trust had listened to people, including patients through the ‘listening exercise’.  This had been the reason for deciding to introduce an hourly-rate structured parking scheme.  The Trust would like to move to an ANPR system but it was unable to do this with the current infrastructure.  When a new car park had been built it would be possible to consider the introduction of a pay on exit system.  At the present time this was not possible due to the number of different exits on site.

Following questions about the car park being used as a means for the Trust to make money and about the current contractor, Ms Gaffney explained that currently the Trust made a loss on the car park.  The Trust was aiming to break even with the new charging structure.  The income from the intersite bus did not subsidise the car parking.  The income from the car park charges was used to maintain the car parks and their security.  There were also overheads to pay, for example charges for the land which was not owned by the Trust.  She add that if the right charging structure was not in place then the car parking budget would have to be subsidised by other budgets within the hospitals. 

Ms Gaffney explained that the current car park contract expired in 2014.  The Trust had already started to look at the requirements for a new contract.  Tenders would be sought ready for next year.  She informed Members how the income from the car parks was divided between the Trust and the contractor.

Frank Hennessy added that the base contract set an agreed anticipated income.  The Trust was therefore guaranteed a minimum income.  Any additional income from the car parks was then split through a profit share arrangement.

It was agreed that the Committee and Scrutiny Officer would circulate information relating to the new payment structure to the Scrutiny Committee once it had been made available.

The Chair thanked Louise Gaffney and Frank Hennessy for attending the meeting and updating the Scrutiny Committee on the results of the consultation. 

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer