Car park charges for public servants are to be reintroduced by the end of the year.

The charges were suspended in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

They will be reintroduced for Tynwald members as a ‘first step’ in October, Infrastructure Minister Dr Michelle Haywood told Tynwald.

But her requested combined vote on the measure could mean a delay to the exact date when MHKs and MLCs start being charged for a space in the government’s underground car park.

In a motion tabled to the July Tynwald, Glenfaba and Garff MHK Kate Lord-Brennan called for parking charges for public servants and employees to be reintroduced in line with a 2015 Tynwald resolution, except that the charging regime should be based on use to reflect changed working practices.

The Infrastructure Minister moved an amendment to remove a reference to no charges being imposed before the necessary statutory framework is in place.

Her amendment was defeated with the Keys voting 16 to six in favour, with the Legislative Council voting three votes to four against.

This prompted Dr Haywood to ask for a combined vote of Tynwald at the October sitting.

The Minister said it was government policy to reintroduce parking charges for public servants, including officers of Tynwald, the judiciary and other government employees.

‘Parking charges will be introduced in line with the previous policy which was suspended during the Covid pandemic. It remains government’s intention to seek to bring back parking charges for government employees by the end of the year,’ she said.

She said as a first step Tynwald members would be charged for a space at the underground car park after the summer recess.

Spaces will be charged at a commercial flat rate of £1,140 and no longer subvented as they were when charges were first introduced.

Dr Haywood agreed it should be a fair system and one that reflected the changes to working practices that have taken place since the pandemic including how charges should apply to occasional users.

She said a pay as you go system had been suggested which would ensure spaces are not under-utilised but a downside could be that it may discourage people from working from the office.

Onchan MHK Rob Callister questioned why public servants, court staff and Tynwald office employees had been ‘explicitly exempted’ in the letter advising Tynwald members about the charges coming in from October, branding this a ‘selective application of policy’.

He told members: ‘Let us be very clear from the outset - any honourable member, public servant or court employee who uses the underground car park adjacent to this building should pay a fair price for using these facilities.’

Mr Callister said charges for both Tynwald members and public servants should either come in from October or January.

He said: ‘In 2020, members paid £770 for their parking permits. Yet the DoI is now proposing charging £1,140.

‘While I personally use the car park almost every day, a flat commercial rate fails to reflect the actual usage patterns of many of my colleagues in this court.’