Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to set conditions for the financing of (a) NHS trusts and (b) NHS Foundations Trusts to ensure that these bodies implement the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

National Health Service organisations have the freedom to make decisions on their car parking to reflect their local situation and needs. The car parking principles provide clear direction and leadership but a central interference in these freedoms would not help NHS trusts and could result in unwarranted interference in how their clinical services are locally managed and delivered.

The powers available to the Secretary of State for Health under Section 42 of the NHS Act 2006 to provide funding to NHS organisations in distress are not appropriate for car parking. There are no other levers or other conditions available for the financing of NHS organisations to implement the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.