A tax on the sick

[colin]

Violet1956 - 2017-12-07 11:21 PM

 

Now, who should we nominate to continue the noble tradition begun by Screaming Lord Sutch on said forum section?

Veronica

 

Have we got anybody that sensible?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/7-monster-raving-loony-party-5644717

[RogerC]

John52 - 2017-12-08 10:33 AM

Tracker - 2017-12-07 10:28 PMCan we have a new forum section please for party political broadcasts?

Unfortunately hospital car park charges are inseparable from politics. In this case Taxing the English and sending the money to Northern Ireland / Scotland / Wales etc so they can all have free prescriptions, free hospital car parking etc as long as they vote Tory - or at least rule from Westminster.

Goodness me...car parking charges and politics inextricably mixed?  Well I never.  I am (not) so humbly grateful for that piece of uninteresting garbage John.  Voting Tory is the way to get free parking?  Well goodness me whatever next I wonder..........http://workingnarratives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/16-boring-stories-no-credit-1024x681.png

Your ability to introduce to almost every topic, with unerring predictability, some warped idea of reality really does make my day.  I think I've mentioned it before......reading your 'stuff' makes me realise just how well balanced my life is.  Thank you so very much.

[antony1969]

John52 - 2017-12-08 1:29 PM

 

Tracker - 2017-12-08 11:14 AM

life is pretty good from our perspective, and I suspect it is pretty good from yours too?

 

 

Yeah, I'm doing alright, but am still concerned about those who aren't.

Which some people can't understand because they seem totally selfish.

Where I have gained from the unfair systyem, they call me a hypocrite.

Where I haven't they call me bitter.

Perhaps thats the only feelings they can understand :-(

They can't seem to understand anyone being concerned about people other than themselves

 

No one cares B-)

[StuartO]

derek pringle - 2017-12-09 2:13 AM

StuartO - 2017-12-08 9:42 AM

derek pringle - 2017-12-09 12:31 AMhi, If hospitals are determined to charge for parking then it should be at a nominal rate and paid on EXIT so there would be no overrun on time. Parking fee in fact should be say £1 per visit, so it costs a £1 whatever time you are there.cheersderek

We have a so-called National Health Service but there is no national policy for whether and how individual hospitals charge for parking.  Hosital budgets are under pressure so the hositals resort to grabbing money where they can, including for parking.  The result is that some hospitals get it wrong and don't allow for people being delayed very well, which they obviously should.

 

Some hospitals are in tightly urban locations and there is simply not enough room for dedicated parking, so that patients and visitors park outside on the roads, with all sorts of knock on effects for other people.  So some local authorities put meters on the roads etc etc It's a mess. 

 

But does any of that excuse over-staying on a meter on the road outside and being outraged about a PCN and blaming hospital parking charges?  I don't think so.

Hi, I understand some of your point button the case of hospitals I do think they are and should be a separate case. For example the local main hospital for me is the size of a village and once you are in a medical queue or treatment room you can,t just say stop I have to feed the meter,in fact you would have to leave 1/4 hr or more to get to the meter. If I am in town shopping I can determine how long I will be ,so not as sympathetic there, yet in hospital I have no say so would have to overfeed the meters on arrival and as you know that can be very expensive. cheersderek

I agree with you that hospital parking charges should be applied as you leave so that you are not required to pay for more than you need 'just in case' you have to wait longer than expected.  NHS central management should require hospital parking schemes to incorporate such a provision.  Hospital planners should be required to provide adequate parking too; it's no use just leaving people to fight it out for the available space.

 

But the OP's post was a complaint about someone getting a PCN for over-staying on a meter on the public road near a hospital but outside it.  I guess the local council installed the meters to limit the impact of street parking in an area which would otherwise be swamped all day with the cars of hospital staff, visitors and patients who were avoiding parking charges in the hospital car parks.  Without parking control, people would park on corners, verges and even block people's drives rather than pay for hospital parking.

 

Given that meters are installed, I see no reason to mount a crusade for PCNs to be waived for people who over stay on them.  Not even nice old ladies who didn't intend to over-stay.

 

 

 

[John52]

RogerC - 2017-12-08 2:02 PM

 Voting Tory is the way to get free parking?  

 

How else did the DUP get their £billion bung? (plus all the others)

[Tracker]

It is more about the penalty charge refecting the actual or potential loss incurred by the parking administraors and all too often these days this has morphed into an absurd claim for a potential loss of a small amount, £1.50 in this case.

 

I don't recall the monetary claimed charge for the penalty notice but I'll wager it is a heck of a lot more than £1.50 potential loss and as such can only be construed as a money making cash cow scam, and this is what many of us object to.

 

Let the punishment fit the crime used to reflect British justice, but does it still apply, maybe it does in places but not if you are a motorist where a parking penalty is often much more than the fine for speeding.

[W3526602]

<<< Not in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, thanks to the bungs they have received from the English Taxpayer to buy Tory votes. >>>

 

Hi,

 

My understanding is the the hospitals have a contractural obligation to allow a private company to charge users of the hospital car-park. Maybe Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish hospitals signed up with a different company?

 

My complaint is that if a private company is taking, say, £10 to £20 per parking bay, per day, then they should be able to afford to build a multi-storey car park above the present car-park. It can take half an hour from entering the hospital grounds, until it's your turn to drive under the barrier. I have been smacked on the head by a descending barrier, the magic eye doesn't recognise flesh..

 

My hospital has notices about their Hospital Driver's Scheme. I assume that a volunteer picks you up from home, and takes you home afterwards. I'm guessing there is a charge?

 

If you know you are going to outstay a parking meter ... fall over, get a medic to check you over, pass his name to Council Ticket Office.

 

It's not the fact there is a penalty for over-staying a meter that's the problem, it's the size of the penalty. £10 would be acceptable, but enough to stop me pushing my luck. Suggestion ... arrange for the penalty to be collected via Income Tax. That way the penalty will be income related, and those on very low income may pay nothing. If you are earning £50 an hour, you may not be bothered by a £30 fine.

 

Wales is mainly Labour or Plaid Cwmru. . When we moved to Wales, i was told that if I was an English Conservative, I should vote Labour in Wales. "So what if I'm an English Labourite?" "Vote Plaid!".

 

As for Winter Fuel Allowance, I suggest that ALL benefits should be taxed. I pay tax on my pension, my wife pays quite a bit of tax on hers. Those on low income should not be receiving enough to have to pay tax. But it's probably best if I get my coat.

 

602

 

 

[StuartO]

W3526602 - 2017-12-09 8:16 AM.... If you know you are going to outstay a parking meter ... fall over, get a medic to check you over, pass his name to Council Ticket Office  ....

 

I don't suppose for a moment that Veronica's nice little old lady, whose instict was to pay the fine rather than make a fuss and challenge it, would want to play tricks of that sort.  She probably doesn't do any thieving or fraud at all.

 

 

 

[Tracker]

Perhaps, like many of us, the very reasonable nice old lady needs some basic training as a politician or local authority official to learn how to apply a few dirty tricks to them for a change.?

[John52]

Tracker - 2017-12-08 4:21 PM

 

It is more about the penalty charge .

 

Presumably Anony will like that too because you're wrong again. :D

A penalty charge is what it says - a penalty. Dates from when London parking meters were lossmaking!! not run for profit but to stop people parking for longer than an hour or whatever, denying the space to others. Only a public body - with its devolved powers - can issue a penalty.

A private company cant issue a penalty charge - they can only issue a parking charge. Then you can debate whether the parking charge reflects their loss incurred.

[Tracker]

I am so terribly sorry for getting the terminology wrong, but then again unlike some I never have claimed to always be right.

 

To those who are hit by it it matters little what you call it as it is still an excessive penalty for a very minor transgression.

[RogerC]

John52 - 2017-12-08 4:21 PM

RogerC - 2017-12-08 2:02 PM Voting Tory is the way to get free parking?  

How else did the DUP get their £billion bung? (plus all the others)

Which one are you on?

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/solar-system-cartoon-planets-smiling-illustration-featuring-eight-happy-funny-characters-sun-open-hands-isolated-39917240.jpg

[derek pringle]

Tracker - 2017-12-08 11:31 AM

 

In this area every hospital appointment is confirmed by a letter, so adding a simple tear off dated code to the bottom of the letter for the day of the visit would cost nothing to print and issue and ensure that only patients and their vehicle would benefit from any concessionary parking rates. It does not solve all the issues but it would be a start to prevent abuse.

 

Excellent starting point Rich,

derek

[John52]

Tracker - 2017-12-08 8:06 PM

To those who are hit by it it matters little what you call it as it is still an excessive penalty for a very minor transgression.

It does matter what you call it when you are using it to argue the financial loss incurred.

Penalty Charge / Parking Charge is more than just a different word. There is a fundamental difference. Which can completely undermine the argument you were putting forward.

When its a penalty its not necessarily about the financial loss to the council.

Its about parking where its not allowed or occuping a space for longer than the permited time that someone else might have needed. This is why some public parking places have time limits, not just charges.

[John52]

RogerC - 2017-12-08 9:32 PM

 

John52 - 2017-12-08 4:21 PM

RogerC - 2017-12-08 2:02 PM Voting Tory is the way to get free parking?  

How else did the DUP get their £billion bung? (plus all the others)

Which one are you on?

So you can only reply with another load of childish gifs to upset the forum software again.

Does this mean you realise the DUP get their £billion ransom payments from us by voting Tory, but just can't admit it?

[RogerC]

John52 - 2017-12-09 9:49 AM

RogerC - 2017-12-08 9:32 PM

John52 - 2017-12-08 4:21 PM

RogerC - 2017-12-08 2:02 PM Voting Tory is the way to get free parking?  

How else did the DUP get their £billion bung? (plus all the others)

Which one are you on?

So you can only reply with another load of childish gifs to upset the forum software again.Does this mean you realise the DUP get their £billion ransom payments from us by voting Tory, but just can't admit it?

My goodness...concerned about the software programme are we.....how interesting to see something other than Royalty, military, chartists, suffragettes getting your attention.

I have to admit my amazement was at the cost of buying the DUP parking spaces....that's one heck of a bill for a few cars even in central London.  LOL

[John52]

RogerC - 2017-12-09 8:31 PM

I have to admit my amazement was at the cost of buying the DUP parking spaces....that's one heck of a bill for a few cars even in central London.  LOL

Well nobody said the DUP were spending all their £billion bungs on parking spaces did they - thats just another straw man argument you have made up.

But the bribes to Northern Ireland/Scotland/Wales to buy Tory votes enables them to provide services free that the English have to pay for. Like Hospital car parking.