Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has of the potential merits of a park and ride scheme tailored to shift times in NHS hospitals in England.

National Health Service organisations must have the autonomy to make decisions that best suit their local circumstances including the provision of car parking and related transport services, such as park and ride schemes.

Patients whose healthcare needs require frequent or extended access to hospitals need fair and appropriate car parking concessions and we expect hospital trusts to deliver them.

The Department published clear guidelines (the car parking principles) for NHS organisations that they are expected to follow.

To support delivery of these principles, Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-03 NHS Car Parking Management: Environment and Sustainability was published in March 2015, and updated in December 2015. The HTM provides examples of best practice, which the Department would encourage at NHS sites. The HTM is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-car-parking-management-htm-07-03