Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much income from car parking for staff was generated in Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in the 2021-22 financial year.

Data from the NHS Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC) shows that in 2021/22, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s total income from car parking was £2,094,729. Income from patients and visitors was £1,336,317 and income from staff was £758,412.

The income criteria in ERIC includes Service Level Agreements with other National Health Service organisations, parking fines and parking permits.

The Government has committed that all trusts that charge for car parking now provide free parking to in-need groups, which include NHS staff working overnight, frequent outpatient attenders and parents of children staying overnight in hospital.