ERI firm wants £14.5m to scrap parking fees

THE private consortium which built the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is demanding £14.5 million from the NHS in return for it scrapping parking charges of up to £7 a day.

The price tag is said to have "astonished" the health board which has been in talks with the company about cancelling the parking fees.

The controversial charges now seem likely to stay in place at the ERI despite free parking being introduced at most other hospitals at the beginning of the year.

It had been hoped the health board could strike a deal with Consort to buy out the parking element in its controversial PFI (private finance initiative) contract which has 19 years to run.

The £14.5m figure was revealed to MSPs at a private briefing by board officials.

SNP Lothians MSP and former GP Dr Ian McKee said he did not see how NHS Lothian could do a deal involving anything like the amount being demanded.

He said: "At the moment the health board will probably walk away from it. The price is too high.

"And it's not just a question of paying £14.5m. There would be substantial running costs. It could cost another £1.5m a year to operate. Even if they got it down to £10m, I don't think they would go for it. It's a huge amount of money."

Parking charges at all non-PFI hospital car parks were scrapped earlier this month. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon urged health boards with PFI-operated car parks – the ERI and two other hospitals, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Ninewells in Dundee – to try to negotiate their contracts in order to end charging or bring the costs down.

Patients and visitors pay £1.20 an hour up to a maximum of £7 a day to park at the ERI.

Lothians Labour MSP George Foulkes said the price being demanded by Consort was "outrageous". He said: "I don't know where it comes from or how it can be justified."

He said: "The health board won't get any extra money from the Scottish Executive. They would have to find it out of frontline service costs, which would mean cutbacks in frontline services, which I could not justify."

Livingston SNP MSP Angela Constance said Consort's demand was "astronomical", adding: "It's a good example of the folly of PFI hospitals."

Consort confirmed it had been in talks with NHS Lothian, but declined to comment further.

John Jack, director of facilities at NHS Lothian, said: "We are in continuing discussions about car parking with Consort."

No change in condition of hospital car park
A BID by NHS Lothian to improve access to a hospital car park has failed after it was told it would in fact worsen the situation.

The health board wanted to widen a road into St John's Hospital in Livingston to allow two lanes of traffic rather than one.

This, health chiefs said, would mean less queuing to get into the busy hospital and improved access.

West Lothian Council snubbed the idea, and now a subsequent appeal to the Scottish Government has also failed.

After a visit to the Howden Road West car park by Holyrood planning reporter Mike Croft, it was ruled that the road should stay as it is.

Mr Croft said ticketing machines which allow access to the car park would not be able to cope with the increase in people going in at a set time, and that the current queuing system was perfectly acceptable.

In his ruling he said: "The suggestion that there would be no queuing at all is simply not credible."

Parking meter problem puts drivers at risk of getting towed
DRIVERS in Bruntsfield were told they faced a fine and may even be towed from clearly signposted parking bays because the council hadn't activated the parking meter yet.

Signs were erected on Gilmore Place at the end of December, indicating that parking was free outwith 8.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday, and all weekend.

Arrows on three signs pointed towards the restricted area, outside Itri restaurant, and stood uncovered for over a month.

However, drivers were still receiving tickets on the weekends leading up to January 17, before parking wardens reverted to warning letters.

William Gillan, partner with A&W Decorators on Gilmore Place, said: "The wardens were handing out leaflets saying that it was still illegal to park there at the weekend but the signs clearly say that it's free."

An Edinburgh City Council spokesman said: "As with any ticket, drivers have the right to appeal."