Fiona
Bruce MP Continues Campaign Against Hospital Car Park Charge Plans
Having enlisted
the support of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is
her campaign against hospital car parking charges, Fiona has now written to the
Chief Executive of the Macclesfield NHS Trust, John Wilbraham pointing out the
response of the Secretary of State and asking once, again that these plans to
impose parking charges at Congleton War Memorial Hospital be now abandoned in
light of the Secretary of State’s response in the House.
In a question
in the House of Commons at the end of 2014, Fiona Bruce MP asked Eric Pickles
MP to join with her in the campaign against the introduction of car-parking
charges at Congleton War Memorial Hospital.
At Local Government Questions in the
Chamber of the House of Commons, Fiona Bruce asked:
Will the Secretary of State join me and
many Congleton residents in objecting to proposals to introduce parking charges
at Congleton War Memorial hospital for the first time? That plan is likely to
increase, rather than decrease, local parking congestion, and rather than
benefiting patients and their families it will in all likelihood benefit the
car park charging company through aggressive fines.
The Secretary of State for Communities
and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP, responded:
I have a War Memorial hospital in my own
constituency. My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) has been
vocal in pressing local health authorities on this practice, which particularly
affects people who are visiting patients who are in hospital for a long stay.
It does not seem to be the most sensible way of raising funds.
Speaking after this response Fiona Bruce
said “The proposal to charge local residents to
park at their hospital, a hospital founded by public subscription, is deeply
offensive, and I am delighted that the Secretary of State has joined in
objecting to this as robustly as he did. I hope this sends out a clear signal
to the Health Authority that these plans must be abandoned without further
delay.”
