| answer text |
<p>NHS trusts have the power to charge for car parking under paragraph 20 of Schedule
4 of the National Health Service Act 2006. Foundation Trusts (FTs) have similar general
powers under section 43(3) of the NHS Act 2006. Individual NHS organisations decide
locally whether or not to institute charges and they also carry out any assessment
of the impact of such charges.</p><br /><p>As part of an assessment, trusts consider
a range of factors, including the availability of parking spaces, the existence of
alternative transport options and the cost of providing car parking. Such matters
vary from place to place and therefore cannot be centrally assessed.</p><br /><p>In
addition, as public bodies, NHS organisations must ensure they are compliant with
the public sector equality duty at Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The conduct
of equality assessments is a local matter and the outcomes are not collected centrally.</p>
|
 |
