Labour pledges to end NHS car park charges

The next Labour government will make parking at NHS England hospitals free for patients, visitors and NHS staff. Labour created the NHS to be free at the point of use, so the next Labour government will eradicate the hidden charges of car parking fees.

Labour will increase the rate of Insurance Premium Tax to 20% for private healthcare insurance products to fund the policy, replacing the £162 million England’s underfunded hospitals currently raise from car parking charges by scrapping the subsidy for people that can afford it, rather than charging people who can’t.

Last month, a Freedom of Information request by Unison revealed some hospitals are charging staff, including nurses struggling with low wages, nearly £100 a month to park, resulting in reports of nurses having to rush out in between appointments to move their cars and avoid fines.

All of Labour’s new spending commitments are fully costed and transparent. This policy will be paid for by a new charge on private healthcare insurance.

Announcing the policy, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff. Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

“Our hospitals are struggling from under-funding at the hands of Theresa May’s Conservative government, but the gap should not be filled by charging sick patients, anxious relatives and already hard-pressed NHS staff for an essential service.

“Our NHS needs a Labour government that will stand up for the many, not the few.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The policy costs £162m: parking charges raise an estimated £162m across NHS England facilities and estates. Allowing for Barnett consequentials, as the NHS is devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we estimate the final policy would cost £190m. Source: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38447606 89/120 trusts raised £120m in parking charges. Assuming the 89 trusts are representative, the total revenue from all trusts would be £162m.

2. Independent market intelligence reports from LaingBuisson estimate the private health insurance cover market is valued at £4.7bn in 2016, excluding dentistry and cash plans. LaingBuisson, Health Cover, 13th Edition, 2016

3. Private healthcare insurance is currently liable for 12% insurance premium tax. An increase of 8% on the tax rate paid on private healthcare insurance would raise an additional £377m. An even more cautious estimate based on 2012 ONS data and analysis suggests that £221m would be raised by levying VAT on private healthcare insurance cover – still £60m more than would be required to provide free parking on the NHS estate.

4. Around 80% of private medical insurance policies are now purchased by corporate employers on behalf of wealthier, high skilled employees (an increase from around 50% in the 1980s). Company paid subscriber policies accounted for just over three-quarters (76.3%) of total market volume demand, representing 3,070,000 subscribers at the end of 2015 (LaingBuisson, Health Cover, 13th Edition)

5. Labour will continue the current VAT exemptions/reliefs on health and medical products including all zero rated and 5% rated items, including sanitary products, over the counter pharmaceuticals, prescriptions, incontinence pads, pregnancy advice services, dentistry cover and cash plans and many other specific health care goods and services. The total cost of VAT exemptions and relief on private health is £3.1bn (HMRC Estimate, 2016): our estimate of £377m is on private healthcare insurance only, excluding dentistry plans and cash plans.

6. NHS staff have been subject to a 1% pay cap after years of pay freezes: increased parking charges have reduced real income. The petition to end hospital parking charges started by NHS staff has now raised 136,000 signatures. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/free-parking-at-all-hospitals-for-nhs-staff

7. NHS Parking Charge Revenues (2016)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-rakes-160million-year-hospital-9525064

The main NHS trusts and what they raised in parking charges (excludes PFI payment arrangements):

Heart of England £4,841,108 (patient/visitor £3,465,357, staff £1,375,751)

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust - £3,671,735 (patient/visitor £1,920,283, staff £1,751,452)

University Hospital Southampton - £3,366,770 (of which £1,015,081 was from staff)

University Hospitals of North Midlands - £3,347,723 (patients/visitors £2,503,097, staff £844,626)

Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - £3,030,678

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - £2,987,458

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £2,801,117- (patients/visitors £2,193,884, staff £607,233

Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - £2,659,000

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - £2,557,081

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust - £2,349,449 (patients/visitors £1,326,115, staff £1,023,334)

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust - £2,271,352 (patients/visitors £1,573,201, staff £698,151)

Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust - £2,226,000

North Bristol NHS Trust £2,143,499 (patients/visitors £1,551,524, staff £591,975)

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (Oct 2015 to Oct 2016) £2,070,045

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust £2,025,131

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust £2,018,935

Medway NHS Foundation Trust £1,924,848 (patients/visitors £1,610,910, staff £313,938)

Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust £1,895,634

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust £1,878,562

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust £1,868,424

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £1,822,579

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,815,000 (patients/visitors £1,306,000, staff £509,0000)

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,744,240

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust £1,726,000

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust £1,696,870

Southend University Hospital £1,694,939

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,650,772

Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,641,232 (patient/visitor £1,341,844, staff £299,388)

Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £1,621,162

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust £1,610,490

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust £1,590,324 (patients/visitors £1,077,351, staff £512,973, parking fines £7,354)

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,589,000 (patients/visitors £1,249,000, staff £338,000)

Ipswich Hospital £1,566,025

Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust £1,554,233

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust £1,549,359

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust £1,534,090

Shrewsbury and Telford £1,525,640 (patients/visitors £1,029,192, staff £496,448)

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust £1,513,589

Barts Health NHS Trust £1,425,912

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust £1,398,642 (patients/visitors £869,588, staff £519,150)

Chesterfield Royal Hospital £1,394,933 (patients/visitors £888,547, staff £506,386)

Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,393,000

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust £1,367,338

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust £ 1,346,105

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust £1,345,358

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust £1,345,253

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust £1,325,945 (patients/visitors £581,933, staff £744,012)

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,307,000 (patients/visitors £944,000, staff £363,000)

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust £1,276,612

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust £1,263,801

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2016 £1,259,078 (patients/visitors £376,598, staff £882,120)

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £1,249,272

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,155,994

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £1,162,653

Bedford Hospital £1.385,000 (patients/visitors £1,136,000, staff £249,000)

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust £1,064,388 (patients/visitors £670,859, staff £351,001)

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust £1,063,337

James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,028,884

London North West Healthcare NHS Trust £968,170

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust £813,705 (patients/visitors £534,470, £279,235 staff)

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust £953,857 (patients/visitors £853,070, staff £100,787)

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £946,000

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust £916,841

Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust £832,049

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust £795,034 (patient/visitor £588,061, staff £206,973)

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust £789,907

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust £815,724

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust £761,845

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust £656,639 from staff

Tameside Hospital £629,000

Liverpool Women’s £534,961

Dorset County Hospital £531,892

South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust £508,897 (patients/visitors £346,591, staff £162,306)

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £497,584

Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust £455,000

Imperial £434,820

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust £367,000

Royal Orthopaedic £337,957

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust £327,000 (patients/visitors £203,000, staff £124,000)

Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £226,415

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust £171,387 (patient/visitors £75,227, staff £96,160)

South London and Maudsley £139,973

Walton Centre Liverpool £113,494