Important changes to the car parking scheme – permit year change


February 19th, 2018

The following updates are being made to the University car parking scheme:

  • Changes to the permit year
  • Five per cent price increase on parking charges from September

Permit year changes

In April 2017, the Government made changes to the salary sacrifice scheme which has now ended with regard to car parking. Following the end of this scheme, the University is changing the permit year for staff, associates and contractors back to its original annual cycle – 1 September to 31 August.

All current staff permits will expire on Saturday 31 March 2018.

Staff who renewed their permit in April 2017 to take advantage of the final year of salary sacrifice will cease to receive salary sacrifice benefits from April 2018. Those who renewed in September 2017 onwards have not received salary sacrifice benefits since the previous permit year ended.

Staff can extend their existing permit to the end of this permit year at current rates, should they wish to, taking the expiry date to Friday 31 August 2018. They will be able to apply for the permit extension from early March; instructions on how to do this will be shared in the coming weeks.

Associates and contractors will need to apply for a new five-month permit from early March. Students are unaffected by these changes, as their permit year already runs 1 September to 31 August.

Price increase from September

There has been a two-year price freeze on car parking charges at the University. The new permit year, which begins Saturday 1 September 2018, will see a price increase of five per cent on car parking charges.

Car parking fees on the University’s campuses cover the charges made to the University by Nottingham City Council through the Workplace Parking Levy scheme. We apologise for the increase in the cost of University parking charges. This is the first time that the price has been raised in the past two years and reflects the rise in the WPL charge.

The University continues to support those with caring responsibilities through the provision of late-start reserved parking areas, where drivers can access parking after 9.15am. Three new spaces have been added under the Ningbo Friendship Bridge on Science Road, close to the science and engineering buildings on University Park. Continued support for electric vehicles will see the roll out of further electric charge points in 2018.

Pay and display car parking charges are also set to increase, with the new charges in place from Saturday 1 September 2018. More detail on the new charges, and all new developments, is available on the Estates website.

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20 Comments

February 21st, 2018 at 2:59 pm

Martin Luck

Will current day permits be valid beyond 31/3/18?

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:14 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Martin. Yes, day vouchers will still be valid beyond 31/3/18. Best wishes, Rebecca

February 21st, 2018 at 3:15 pm

Racheal Webster

Hi,

My staff permit runs out 31 March. will this renew automatic or will I have to apply for a new permit before this runs out?

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:16 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Racheal. An email will be sent to all staff in early March advising on how to extend your permit. Best wishes, Rebecca

February 21st, 2018 at 3:20 pm

Chris

Raising the price of parking permits that are over subscribed resulting in a severe lack of parking spaces during peak periods of the day. If the university could publish the cost of the council levy VS the revenue gained from permits to show that the increase is necessary it would help to justify it.

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:17 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Chris. Advice on space availability is contained on the parking website. Permit charges are not directly related to WPL but income is used to offset the WPL levy. Since the introduction of permit charges in 2011, overall permit increases have been 17.5% against a 44% increase in WPL charges. Many thanks, Rebecca

February 21st, 2018 at 4:19 pm

Sean

Does the WPL apply to spaces at Sutton Bonington, Ningbo and Malaysia campuses – since all three of these are outside of the territorial authority of Nottingham city council. For SB, the WPL for Kegworth/Leicestershire should be covered by the parking fee instead – what is this ? Has this also increased?

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:18 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Sean. The University car parking charges scheme is applicable to all UK Campuses, including Sutton Bonington. The charges are not determined by the WPL, although income is used to offset the WPL charge. Kind regards, Rebecca

February 21st, 2018 at 5:04 pm

Rachel

Many of us will take holiday over Easter with my last day being 23rd March. Is it possible to make sure that the information about how to apply for new parking permits is made available well in advance so that we can ensure we have a permit for after the Easter holidays.

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:19 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Rachel, An email will be sent to all staff early March advising on how to extend your permit. Best wishes, Rebecca

February 21st, 2018 at 8:39 pm

Jax Gallagher

It’s great that three ‘parking after 9.15am only’ spaces have been created but if these are not ‘policed’ by security then people will just ignore the notice and park in them. Just as they do in the QMC car park!

February 22nd, 2018 at 4:19 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Jax. There is robust enforcement on the abuse of the 9.15am spaces for which parking charge notices have been and will continue to be issued. I hope this helps – Best wishes, Rebecca

February 28th, 2018 at 5:36 pm

Tony

Hi, is there a plan to look at the basic principles of the charging scheme any time soon? Particularly the ridiculous link to CO2 emissions (emissions of a parked car are zero), which squarely penalises drivers of petrol cars, and could be partly responsible for encouraging the “dash to diesel” which is now recognised as a mistake form the emissions point of view.

Secondly the first of the “principles” mentions a technology based system for daily charging. Still to see any movement on this, seems to have been forgotten about. This would have the biggest benefit for the University agenda on emissions, as it would make it worthwhile people considering alternative transport on a daily basis. Fixed annual charges encourage every day car use. (and don’t mention the daily parking vouchers, these cost considerably more).

March 6th, 2018 at 5:09 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Tony. At the annual reviews of the scheme the charging mechanism and potential for using pay by use technology is kept under review. Although technology does exist it is rarely used within such a complex infrastructure and at present due to the complex nature of both our networks, vehicles coming into site (deliveries, visitors, public transport) and the requirement for continued personnel to carry out enforcement it is not considered that at this time there is appropriate technology to be able to deliver an effective pay by use system. This charging mechanism and pay by use technology will continue to be kept under annual review. Kind regards, Rebecca

March 1st, 2018 at 9:46 am

Paul

A key issue with the parking system is the lack of transparency regarding the cost of parking to the employee and the WPL charges. It should be made clear that parking charges were only introduced as a result of the WPL; with that in mind, the employee charges should not exceed the WPL paid by the University. At a time when pay rises are low, and indeed less than inflation, it is hard to see how a 5% rise in parking charges is justifiable. At the end of the day, this is a pay cut for many staff who simply cannot use public transport to get to work.

March 6th, 2018 at 5:10 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Paul. Permit charges are not directly related to WPL but income is used to offset the WPL levy. Since the introduction of permit charges in 2011, overall permit increases have been 17.5% against a 44% increase in WPL charges. Best wishes, Rebecca.

March 7th, 2018 at 7:45 am

Paul

Hi Rebecca. Thanks for your response, but that still doesn’t address the issue that I raised: the key question is how much does the WPL cost for the University, and how much does the University raise from car parking charges? These numbers should be made available to staff in order to be fully transparent. The differences between increases in the WPL and car parking charges is irrelevant without knowing what the actual costs of both are.

March 13th, 2018 at 12:53 pm

brzrcb1

Hi Paul. The University has a working group which includes HR, Trade Union and Environmental representation. This group meets annually to ensure transparency and appropriateness of charges on a numbers of fronts, including the offsetting of the WPL charge and costs associated with the administration of the overall car parking scheme. The University does not make a profit from this process.

March 8th, 2018 at 8:42 am

Alison

I have a permit and vouchers. I haven’t received an email about renewing my permit yet.

March 8th, 2018 at 9:07 am

brzrcb1

Hi Alison. Can I please ask you to contact 0115 9513557 (Int:13557) for more information and advice on this. Many thanks – Rebecca

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