Carers in Penrith say they are “disgusted” after being slapped with parking tickets while caring for the elderly.
In recent weeks, four parking tickets have been dished out to staff working for the town’s Beacon Home Care Ltd and the council has refused to rescind them.
The flurry of fixed penalty notices in Castletown and Brunswick Road comes after the new council scrapped free parking permits for carers.
Under Cumbria County Council, the company used to apply for pink carers’ discs which allowed them to park in residential and disc zones without being ticketed.
But the perk appears to have been scrapped by the incoming Westmorland and Furness Council, which has around 1,700 adults on its own books requiring care at home.
Carers say that they now have to drive around looking for free parking spots — eating into the time they are supposed to spend with elderly service users.
Carer Mark Wallendorf, who lives in Appleby, told the Herald that he felt “disappointed, demotivated and unfairly treated” after getting a ticket during a home visit.
“With a minimum wage and moving from client to client, I stress more about getting fines than doing my job properly,” he said.
Sue Potter, registered care manager of Beacon Home Care, explained: “As soon as we park up to go in, that’s our start time or us starting our call. If we have to park five to 10 minutes away and then walk, it’s going to impact on the time we have with a service user.
“Carers are not paid a vast amount and if you’re expected to pay a £35 ticket on top of a call, it’s not going to be worth it.”
An email from council parking chiefs seen by the Herald states that the new council cannot accommodate every request for a parking permit for health care workers.
And with streets under pressure from cars, “limitations” need to be applied, it read.
The council has told the firm its carers should appeal tickets through the existing channels. The firm did challenge one ticket and lost the case. The council’s other suggestion is that the care firm gets each person it cares for, or their family, to make an individual written application to the council for a carer’s permit for that address.
Carers make dozens of visits every week, which would unleash an administrative nightmare for the council.
In the hope that parking enforcement officers might show mercy, carers have continued displaying their old county council tickets to show they are at work, but to no avail.
There are 15 carers at the company’s Holmleigh headquarters who look after service users well into their 90s across a large area from Armathwaite to Lazonby and Tirril.
Staff say that without the carers, many older people would have to be admitted into council-run residential homes — at financial cost to the authority.
The council said: “Westmorland and Furness Council regularly receives a number of permit requests from all manner of healthcare professionals, who all may have legitimate reasons. Whilst we would like to accommodate everyone’s needs, presently it is simply not feasible, especially in residential parking areas, where the demand for parking has substantially increased and so limitations do need to be applied.
“To obtain a carer’s permit, the resident or someone on their behalf needs to place a request in writing detailing the circumstances and confirmation that the person requires full-time care of more than 30 hours per week.
“This can be in the form of a doctor’s letter or letter from a care organisation or social services team, proof of disability or carers allowance etc. As with any permit application we do not need to see original documents, photocopies, scans, emails or photographs will suffice and upon receipt we will review the application accordingly.
“We regret that we are unable to issue permits to your company and staff,” it said.
