Campus parking
New car parking charges in 2011
Following a review of campus car parking charges, a simpler payments system and new charging structure has been introduced, with effect from 1 February 2011.
Parking charges had remained at £1 a day since they were last changed in May 2006. Car parking is currently subsidised by the University, with the costs of providing and maintaining car parks exceeding the revenue raised by parking charges.
In line with requirements set by Council (the University's governing body) that trading services cover their costs, parking charges will increase. However, the necessary increases will be phased in over a number of years.
For full-time staff, the new standard rate for 2011 for a permit for parking on campus is £25 a month, paid by salary deduction (i.e. £300 per year). This equates to £1.36 a day, across the 220 days that a full-time member of staff typically works in a year.
Staff pay pro rata according to their contracted hours (e.g. if 0.5FTE, the charge is £12.50 a month); this change to the charging system addresses equity issues for part-time staff.
This new charging structure and pro-rata part-time payments for part-time staff should make the parking system simpler for users. As most staff are likely to opt to pay by salary deduction, and with scratch cards reducing cash collection, it will also be cheaper to manage.
Staff who wish to park occasionally can use new daily scratch cards, which cost £2 each (one-150th of the annual staff rate).
For staff on "zero hours" contracts, who typically work for short periods and from whom regular salary deductions cannot be made, a notional 0.1FTE rate has been introduced. NB This is a change from the initial announcement of the new 1 February 2011 charges.
The rates for permits for students are £55 a term (or £165 a year). This ten per cent rise is the first increase for students since charges were first introduced in 2003. Those students wishing to pay daily use new scratch cards costing £1.10 each (one-150th of the annual student rate).
Parking charges will continue to apply from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year. Annual permits will cover all these periods.
Scratch cards are also available for University visitors. Schools and departments that wish to provide parking for their visitors can buy these at a cost of £2.00 a day, significantly cheaper than the rate for casual external users.
The rate for casual external users is £6 for six hours, paid using the existing pay-and-display machines. This is designed to discourage people off campus seeking to use the campus as a cheap daily car park.
The start date of 1 February was set to allow a period of time for staff and students to apply for permits and purchase scratch cards, and to start the new charges at the beginning of a calendar month, rather than part-way through.