Issue - meetings

Councillor Bick made the following comments:

i.               Noted that this was a subsequent decision to 20/59PnT.

ii.             Noted that people who worked in public sector jobs and in essential food jobs had free parking.

iii.            From June onwards free parking arrangements ended, people who worked in retail (either essential or non-essential) would be charged £10.50 / day.

iv.           Questioned why different arrangements were proposed for those working in the public sector to those working in the private sector. Questioned why the Executive Councillor thought this was ok.

v.             Believed the decision would be difficult to defend.

The Strategic Director said the following:

               i.           Public Sector workers and those working in the voluntary sector would be providing support to those who were vulnerable and could be shielding and may not be able to social distance because of the support being provided. Therefore some people needed to travel by car to avoid cross-contamination. For the next 3 months it was considered appropriate to offer these people access to free parking.

             ii.           Wouldn’t be able to offer free parking to all, it seemed fairer to group all businesses together.

            iii.           Some businesses were offering employees discounted parking or parking permits.

           iv.           Was aware of government’s advice and would review the decision in July.

             v.           Wanted to ensure that there was adequate space in the car parks.

The Executive Councillor for Transport and Community Safety commented:

                      i.        The number of people coming into work was increasing and there might not be capacity for these workers in the car parks.

                    ii.        If individual employers had any issues then they needed to discuss this with the council.

                   iii.        The decision would be reviewed in July.

The Strategic Director said the following:

                      i.           There was a tight application process in place for people who wanted to access the free parking. Free parking was not automatically given.  Each applicant had to demonstrate a need to have the free parking and they needed to have the support of their employer as well before their application would be granted.