Salmond hospital parking claim is ... only HALF TRUE
EACH WEEK IN COLLABORATION WITH INVESTIGATIVE WEBSITE THE FERRET, THE SUNDAY HERALD GETS TO THE TRUTH BURIED BEHIND THE SOUNDBITES
THE Labour manifesto has dominated the political conversation recently as the party’s election policies were dissected across the media. Labour’s final manifesto was widely described as a left-wing platform not pursued by a major party in the UK in three decades, but some in Scotland argued it was, in fact, similar in policy to the SNP. One of those was the SNP’s former leader Alex Salmond. He took to Twitter with a list of policies which he said had already been brought in by the SNP Government.
The Labour manifesto includes a pledge to end hospital parking charges, which Salmond claimed had been abolished by the SNP Government in 2008. The SNP brought “an end to hospital parking charges also in 2008”, Salmond said on May 11. Ferret Fact Service assessed this statement, and found it to be half true. THE EVIDENCE
Salmond referenced a move announced by then health secretary Nicola Sturgeon in 2008 which scrapped parking fees at the majority of Scots hospitals. She said: “It’s simply not fair to expect patients or visitors to have to pay when they come to hospital.”
According to the Scottish Government, charges were scrapped at 14 sites where fees had previously applied. In a report in 2015, the Scottish Government said the policy had saved patients and NHS staff nearly £25 million in seven years. But three hospitals were not included in the scheme: Ninewells in Dundee, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The reason given for this decision was that car parking was provided as part of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts which were too costly to buy out.
Visitors and hospital staff are still charged to park at these hospitals. Salmond’s claim was that parking charges had been ended by the SNP Government. This is not the case, as three big hospitals still charge. However, the PFI deals which control parking at the hospitals in question were put in place before the SNP came to power. So it could be argued the prohibitive expense of making parking free at these hospitals is not the fault of the current administration.
In 2015, Health Secretary Shona Robison said the Government would ideally “abolish charging at the three PFI car parks too” but blamed the contracts negotiated before 2007. Ferret Fact Service verdict: Half True
Alex Salmond’s claim that the SNP ended NHS parking charges is partially accurate. While charges were abolished at the majority of hospitals in 2008, three large facilities still charge for parking as they are administered by outside companies due to PFI deals. The Ferret Fact Service (FFS) at https:// theferret.scot/ is Scotland’s first nonpartisan fact checking service. We check statements from politicians, pundits and prominent public figures about issues the public are interested in.