Following a review of campus car parking charges, a simpler payments system and new charging structure is being introduced from 1 February 2011.

Parking charges have 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 will be £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 will pay pro rata according to their contracted hours (e.g. if 0.5FTE, the charge would be £12.50 a month); this change to the charging system addresses equity issues for part-time staff.

Staff who wish to park occasionally will be able to use new daily scratch cards, which will cost £2 each (one-150th of the annual staff rate).

The rates for permits for students will be £55 a term (or £165 a year). This ten per cent rise will be the first increase for students since charges were first introduced in 2003. Those students wishing to pay daily will use new scratch cards costing £1.10 each (one-150th of the annual student rate).

From 1 February 2011, parking charges will apply from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, throughout the year. Annual permits will cover all of these periods.

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.

Scratch cards will also be available for University visitors. Schools and departments that wish to provide parking for their visitors will be able to buy these at a cost of £2 a day (an increase on the £1 currently payable for visitor's parking permits but significantly cheaper than the new rate for casual external users).

The rate for casual external users will be £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 has been 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.

Further details