Free parking at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary could be here to stay

Government ‘actively pursuing’ long-term solution

Parking charges at ERI are currently suspended until September

HOPES of permanent free parking at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary have been boosted after Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the Scottish Government was “actively pursuing” a long-term solution for the parking situation at Scotland’s three PFI owned hospital car parks.

The government stepped in at the beginning of lockdown to provide free parking at ERI as well as Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, ensuring that NHS staff working on the Covid frontline did not have to fork out for taking their car to work when everyone was being advised to avoid public transport.

The initial three-month suspension of charges was extended to the end of September.

But now, in answer to a question from Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has revealed moves are under way to make it permanent.

Normally, parking at ERI can cost staff as much as £1,500 a year. Charges range from £1.40 per hour up to £7.20 for six hours.

Car parking charges at all non-PFI hospitals in Scotland were scrapped in 2008, but the government said it would cost too much to buy out the contracts of the PFI companies.

However, in her written answer Ms Freeman said: “The Scottish Government is actively pursuing a long term solution for the parking situation at the three PFI owned hospital car parks.”

And she added: “Due to the commercial sensitivities of any option being considered, we are not in a position to provide adetailed update at this point.”

After the suspension of the charges in March, the Evening News revealed it was the government rather than the PFI firms which were picking up the tab and it was costing almost £1 million a month for the three sites. Opposition politicians have accused the firms of “shameless profiteering”.

After Ms Freeman’s announcement, Mr Briggs said: “This is a positive development that the Scottish Government is actively looking for a solution to the parking charges at all three PFI hospitals in Scotland.

“It has been shown that short term solutions can be found to lift the parking charges. It would be extremely unfair if staff at these hospitals started to get charged again for parking after the Covid-19 outbreak, considering the amount of sacrifices they have made to care for all of us.

“Scotland has received £7.5 million in Barnett Consequentials, this financial year, to find a long term solution to unfair parking charges at hospital sites.”

Mr Briggs has previously proposed a refund scheme or hospital staff, paying individuals the cost of their parking charges and calculated the move would cost £1.62m for all three PFI sites.

When NHS Lothian tried to negotiate with PFI consortium Consort to scrap parking charges altogether at the ERI in 2009, the price demanded was £14.5m.