Landmark in bid to end carers’ car parking fees at hospitals

Burnley MP Julie Cooper will have a second reading of her Private Members’ Bill in the House of Commons on October 30.

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She wants to introduce legislation to Parliament which would exempt carers entitled to Carer’s Allowance from NHS hospital car parking charges in England.

Her Hospital Parking Charges (Exemption for Carers) Bill 2015-16 is being backed by campaign group Carers UK, which has launched its supporting campaign Park the Charges.

It released a statement bemoaning the cost of visiting relatives and friends, which said: “ Visiting hospital with someone you care for is tough enough, without the stress of having to renew the parking ticket, the time it takes and even just having the right change, not to mention the cost which can run into hundreds of pounds each year.

“Julie decided it had a better chance of being successful if it applied to carers who are entitled to claim Carer’s Allowance to begin with.

“If the Bill makes it into law, Julie hopes to persuade the Government to widen the provisions of the bill to include all carers.”

Car parking is free in most hospitals in Scotland and Wales but very few hospitals in England allow free parking for carers – a Freedom of Information request in 2014 showed that 79 per cent of English hospitals charge for parking with fees ranging from £3.50 to as much as £20 a day.

Mrs Cooper described carers paying to visit loved ones as a “tax on illness”.

She said: “During recent years, I have met with carers from across the constituency from different backgrounds, all of whom had different stories to tell but all with one thing in common: their willingness to support a sick person, whether it be a child with cancer, an elderly person with complex needs or a person attending hospital for regular treatments such as chemotherapy.

“All these carers often have reason to be parked at hospitals for long periods and can incur charges which they can often ill afford.”