Call for prison visitors to pay for parking, too

Dec 8 2007 by Dave Black, The Journal

A CALL has been made for people visiting relatives held in North-East prisons to be charged for car parking – to bring them in line with hospital patients and visitors who already have to fork out fees.

Forcing patients and visiting family members to pay to park at hospitals in the region is unfair when those visiting relatives serving sentences at local jails are allowed to park free for unlimited periods, it is claimed.

The call has come from Michael Weatheritt, a member of the Alnwick branch of the UK Independence Party, in response to the looming introduction of an 80p an hour charge for people parking at the town’s infirmary.

Widespread protests have been voiced over the amount that hospital patients and visitors are charged for parking – amid claims it is a tax on illness – and the huge sums which NHS trusts rake in from the fees every year.

Now Mr Weatheritt, who unsuccessfully stood as a UKIP candidate for a seat on Alnwick District Council at the May elections, says the situation is made even more unfair by the unlimited free parking for visitors to Acklington Prison, Castington Young Offenders’ Institution and other jails across the UK.

He added: “Some people have been griping about the parking charges being introduced at Alnwick Infirmary. I agree that it is terrible because they are sticking the boot in when people are at their most vulnerable.

“It made me wonder whether people are charged to park when they visit criminals in prison, and I discovered that parking at Acklington and Castington is free with no time limit. How is this justifiable?

“This has become a big talking point locally since I discovered the situation. It is completely unfair and, because I can’t see the hospital trusts scrapping parking charges, I believe we should call for charges to be brought in for people visiting prisons.

“Prisoners are there because they have broken the laws of the country, but patients are in hospital because they are ill or a victim of crime. We need to act now to rectify this anomaly.”

Berwick Liberal Democrat MP Alan Beith, whose constituency includes Acklington Prison and Castington YOI, said: “I don’t welcome the parking fees at hospitals, but I would not welcome them at prisons either.

“Hospitals are in areas where it is otherwise difficult to park but prisons are in relatively isolated locations. I think it would be a bad idea.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The cost of charging domestic visitors would outweigh revenue received.”