City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Environment, Transport and Planning
Service Area:		Parking
Name of the proposal :		Changes to City of York Council parking charges as part of the 2025/2026 to 2029/30 financial strategy
Lead officer:		James Gilchrist
Date assessment completed:		24.02.25
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Helene Vergereau	Head of Highway Access and Development		CYC	Highways and transport
Darren Hobson	Traffic Management Team Leader		CYC	Highways and transport
Jav Safder	Parking Services Manager		CYC	Parking

Step 1 – Aims and intended outcomes 

1.1

What is the purpose of the proposal? Please explain your proposal in Plain English avoiding acronyms and jargon.

The proposed 2025/26 to 2029/30 financial strategy includes a significant increase in parking charges in order to promote the use of sustainable transport options to visit the city centre. These changes are described in more detail below. Localised impact on access to specific locations are identified in italics in this section. Castle, Coppergate, Bootham Row and Esplanade car parks · For anyone using these car parks (excluding Minster Badge holders): o Charge of £4.85 for the first hour and £9.70 for the first two hours, which is more reflective of the cost of using public transport (resulting in a 43% increase for Sunday to Thursday) o Charges for stays over 2 hours increased by between 9 and 10% Sunday to Thursday and by between 18 and 32% on Fridays, Saturdays and during events. o Introduction of a 10% supplement for using council car parks and on-street Pay & Display parking when the city is busiest, including on Fridays and Saturdays all year round and during event (such as St Nicholas Fayre, resulting in a 56% increase for the first two hours on Fridays, Saturdays and during events) · For Minster Badge holders using these car parks o Charge of £3.70 for the first hour and £7.50 for the first two hours (resulting in a 19 to 21% increase Sunday to Thursday) o Supplement for Fridays, Saturdays and events also applied to Minster Badge users, resulting in a 32% increase for the first two hours o Additional hours become cheaper for Minster Badge holders Sunday to Thursday (7 to 10% reduction in cost for stays over 2 hours during the day) o Evening parking costs increased from £1 to £2 for Minster badge holders Marygate, Monk Bar, Nunnery Lane, St George's Field, Union Terrace · For anyone using these car parks (excluding Minster Badge holders): o First hour increase from £3.10 to £4.85 (56%) Sunday to Thursday and £5.30 (71%) for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Similar increases between 1 and 2 hour stays. o Stays between 2 and 5 hours, charges increased between 20 and 45% o Day charge increased from £20 to £25 on Fridays, Saturdays and for events, evening charge remains at £4 Sunday to Thursday and increases to £4.80 on Fridays, Saturdays and for events. · For Minster Badge holders using these car parks o First hour increase from £2.40 to £3.70 (54%) Sunday to Thursday and £4.10 (71%) for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Similar increases between 1 and 2hour stays. o Stays between 2 and 5 hours, charges increased between 19 and 44% o Day charge reduced from £20 to £17.30 Sunday to Thursday and to £19.20 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. o Evening charges increased from £1 to £2 all week. Foss Bank car park (closes at 8pm) · First hour increase from £2.30 to £4.85 (111%) Sunday to Thursday and £5.30 (130%) for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Similar increases between 1 and 2 hour stays. · Stays between 2 and 5 hours, charges increased between 62 and 90%. For example, stays between 4 and 5 hours increase from £11.50 to £18.60 Sunday to Thursday and to £21.50 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. · Foss Bank Car park doesn’t currently offer discounted charges for Minster Badge holders but discounts are proposed to be introduced. Impacts on access to Job Centre, Medical centre and churches (including for groups using the churches and associated buildings for other purposes, for example support to elderly people, parent/carer baby groups, etc) Bishopthorpe Road car park · This car park currently limits parking to a maximum of 3 hours and offers no Minster Badge discounts. Proposed changes would allow all day parking. · Current charges are £0.80 for the first hour and the maximum charge is £4.50 for up to 3 hours. · Proposals are to increase these charges to bring them in line with proposed charges at Marygate, Monk Bar, Nunnery Lane, St George's Field, Union Terrace. For the first hour, this represents an increase of over 500%. For a stay of up to 3 hours, this represents an increase of 149% Sunday to Thursday and 200% for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Impacts on people accessing the shops and the health services, impact on St Benedict Road on street parking (TRO change may be required), access to church on Scarcroft Road and in the wider area (including for groups using the churches and associated buildings for other purposes, for example support to elderly people, parent/carer baby groups, etc). The area is only served by two low frequency bus routes. East Parade car park · Charges would increase from £1.10 for up to 1 hour to £3 (or £2.30 with a Minster Badge). Charges for longer stays (max 3 hours) would be reduced from £9.3 for 3 hours currently to £9 (or £6.90 with a Minster Badge) Impacts on people accessing the shops, including Pharmacy, and Glen Gardens Rowntree Park car park · Rowntree Park currently offers 4-hour maximum stay. The proposals would reduce this to 3 hours and increase the charges by 131% (and by 283% for Minster Badge holders). For example, parking for up to 1 hour would increase from £1.30 to £3, and for Minster Badge holders, charges would increase from £0.60 to £2.30. For a stay of up to 3 hours, charges would increase from £3.90 to £9 and for Minster Badge holders, charges would increase from £1.80 to £6.90. Impacts on young people, families accessing the park (including for groups using the park and associated buildings for other purposes, for example support to elderly people, parent/carer baby groups, etc). On street parking · Charges would increase by 20 to 71%. For example, parking for up to one hour would increase from £3.10 to £4.85 Sunday to Thursday and to £5.30 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Charges remain at £4 for evenings Sunday to Thursday and increases to £4.80 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. · Charges would increase by 12 to 32% for Minster Badge holders, with an 8% reduction for stays of up to 3 hours Sunday to Thursday. Evening parking for Minster Badge holders will increase from £1 to £2. · Priory Street – Charges currently do not apply on this street on Sunday mornings. Charges would apply on Sunday mornings under the proposals. · Micklegate – Current charges are £0.60 for up to 30 minutes and £1.20 for up to an hour and is free on Sunday mornings. The proposals would change charges to £4.85 for up to an hour Sunday to Thursday and to £5.30 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Charges would apply on Sunday mornings under the proposals. Priory Street and Micklegate – Impacts on people accessing the shops and businesses, including the Post Office, and on access to church (including for groups using the churches and associated buildings for other purposes, for example support to elderly people, parent/carer baby groups, etc) Foss Island Road · This is used by large vehicles such as minibuses, motorhomes and caravans. Charges are proposed to increase from £5.40 for up to 2 hours to £10 Sunday to Thursday and to £11 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Charges would increase from £8 for up to 5 hours to £20 Sunday to Thursday and to £24 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Fossgate, St Deny's Road, Stonebow, Walmgate, evening on street parking · Charges are proposed to increase from £4 to £4.80 for Fridays, Saturdays and events. Charges for Minster Badge holders are proposed to increase £1 to £2. · Charges currently do not apply on St Deny’s Road on Saturdays but would apply on Sundays under these proposals. St Deny’s Road - Impacts on people accessing the church (including for groups using the churches and associated buildings for other purposes, for example support to elderly people, parent/carer baby groups, etc) Motorcycle parking in car park dedicated bays · Motorcycles do not currently pay to park in car parks. The proposals would implement charges as follows: o Sunday to Thursday: £1.60 for up to 1 hour, £3.20 for 1 to 2 hours, £6.20 for 4 to 5 hours and £7.50 for all day parking o For Fridays, Saturdays and events: £1.80 for up to 1 hour, £3.50 for 1 to 2 hours, £7.20 for 4 to 5 hours and £8.30 for all day parking o For Minster Badge holders: § Sunday to Thursday: £1.20 for up to 1 hour, £2.50 for 1 to 2 hours, £4.80 for 4 to 5 hours and £5.80 for all day parking § For Fridays, Saturdays and events: £1.40 for up to 1 hour, £2.70 for 1 to 2 hours, £5.50 for 4 to 5 hours and £6.40 for all day parking Other proposed changes include: · Minster Badge cost (for 2 years) increased from £30 to £45; · 10% increase in the cost of householder permits for Resident Parking zones for second and third permits; · Reduction in the discount available for parking permits in ResPark areas for low emission cars (e.g. less than 2.7m long, electric, LPG, or below 120g of CO^2 per km), resulting in increases in charges for these cars between 74 and 89%; · Increases in charges for annual, monthly and weekly parking season tickets between 9 and 14% with a reduction in the discount offered for low emission cars, resulting in increases in charges for these cars between 82 and 88%; · 13% increase in the cost of hotel scratch cards.

1.2	Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)
	Local authorities have the power to charge for on-street and off-street parking under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?
	On-street and off-street parking users (residents, visitors, etc), including those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 Businesses and other services and premises (including medical centres, pharmacies, places of worship, etc), whose customers, suppliers, and visitors use CYC on-street and off-street parking to park their vehicle.

1.4

What results/outcomes do we want to achieve and for whom?  This section should explain what outcomes you want to achieve for service users, staff and/or the wider community. Demonstrate how the proposal links to the Council Plan (2019- 2023) and other corporate strategies and plans.

As stated in the Executive report (paragraph 72 https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s181127/Executive%20Financial%20Strategy.pdf): “The proposals include a significant increase in parking charges in order to promote the use of sustainable transport options to visit the city centre with minimum charge per hour for the first two hour of £4.85 meaning that the first two hours charge of £9.70 is more reflective of the cost of using public transport. It is also proposed to introduce a 10% supplement for using council car parks and on-street when the city is busiest, including on Fridays and Saturdays all year round and over the period from the beginning of the St Nicholas Fayre in mid-November through to the New Year.”

Step 2 – Gathering the information and feedback 

2.1	What sources of data, evidence and consultation feedback do we have to help us understand the impact of the proposal on equality rights and human rights? Please consider a range of sources, including: consultation exercises, surveys, feedback from staff, stakeholders, participants, research reports, the views of equality groups, as well your own experience of working in this area etc.
Source of data/supporting evidence		Reason for using
Budget consultation		Starting back in May 2024, the council has undertaken a comprehensive budget consultation which concluded in December 2024. This is summarised from Paragraph 38 here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s181127/Executive%20Financial%20Strategy.pdf Data from the consultation is available here: https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/aedff60d-99e5-4d67-ba8e-13dc0b6cf931/budget-consultation

Step 3 – Gaps in data and knowledge

3.1	What are the main gaps in information and understanding of the impact of your proposal?  Please indicate how any gaps will be dealt with.
Gaps in data or knowledge		Action to deal with this
Very limited data on current car park and on-street parking use		Some counters are due to be repaired but data will continue to be limited unless surveys are commissioned.
No detailed consultation undertaken for users and areas around the car parks considered here		Monitor feedback once the decision has been taken and once the changes are implemented

Step 4 – Analysing the impacts or effects.

4.1

Please consider what the evidence tells you about the likely impact (positive or negative) on people sharing a protected characteristic, i.e. how significant could the impacts be if we did not make any adjustments? Remember the duty is also positive – so please identify where the proposal offers opportunities to promote equality and/or foster good relations.

Equality Groups and Human Rights.	Key Findings/Impacts	Positive (+) Negative (-) Neutral (0)	High (H) Medium (M) Low (L)
Age	Blue Badge holders will continue to park free of charge. The negative impact of increased charges will be mainly on older people who may have difficulties walking or cycling but are not Blue Badge holders (including older people who may have more modest incomes). The charges will also have a negative impact on young people/families who may not be able to use other modes of transport and use the car to access parks and other services. Budget Consultation responses: “Some residents did mention, however, that not every York resident has the option to avoid the city centre car parks, and this may disproportionately affect those without the ability to use public transport e.g. those with health issues”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report Some areas, for example Bishopthorpe Road shops and services, are not well served by public transport, reducing the range of alternative modes of transport available. The 10% increase in charges for resident parking permits (larger increases for 2^nd and 3^rd vehicle) may also have a negative impact on families with young children and young people living in Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). Budget consultation response: “However, other residents did not think all multicar households were wealthy, and worried about the impact on larger families and houses of multiple occupancy (e.g. shared house)”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report	Negative	Medium
Disability	Blue Badge holders will continue to park free of charge. The charge increases may however have a negative impact on Blue Badge holders who will need to purchase a permit or ticket for their vehicle if they need their Blue Badge to travel in a different vehicle. Parking charge increases will have a negative impact on disabled people who do not hold a Blue Badge. This is reflected in the Budget Consultation responses: “Some residents did mention, however, that not every York resident has the option to avoid the city centre car parks, and this may disproportionately affect those without the ability to use public transport e.g. those with health issues”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report The 10% increase in charges for resident parking permits (larger increases for 2^nd and 3^rd vehicle) may also have a negative impact on disabled people who do not hold a Blue Badge. This is reflected in the Budget Consultation responses: “Residents also expressed worries that it would disproportionately affect people who relied on cars for mobility and had to park outside their homes for this reason”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report Some areas, for example Bishopthorpe Road shops and services, are not well served by public transport, reducing the range of alternative modes of transport available. The reduction in the discount available for parking permits in ResPark areas for low emission cars (increases in charges for these cars between 74 and 89%) and the increases in charges for annual, monthly and weekly parking season tickets with a reduction in the discount offered for low emission cars (increases in charges for these cars between 82 and 88%), may have a negative impact on Blue Badge holders. This is because although Blue Badge holders can generally park free of charge in residential parking areas and CYC car parks when they display their Blue Badge in the parked vehicle, they will need to purchase a permit or ticket for their vehicle if they need their Blue Badge to travel in a different vehicle. Adapted cars purchased through specialist schemes such as Motability are often low emission vehicles and therefore Blue Badge holders are likely to benefit from the low emission car discounts. This was noted in the Budget Consultation responses: “A notable objection to this came from disabled residents, who often get hybrid cars as part of their Personal Independence Payments. They pointed out that it is not always wealthy residents who have low emission vehicles, and that they are grateful for the current discount”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report	Negative	Medium
Gender	Increased parking charges are likely to have a negative impact on people who may decide to use a private car to travel for safety and security reasons as they will have to pay more to park in CYC car parks and on street parking. This may apply, for example, to women who may need to access a workplace or services early in the morning or late in the evening when bus services are inexistent or less frequent and do not feel safe cycling or walking to and from their destination.	Negative	Medium
Gender Reassignment	The same impacts identified under “Gender” apply here.	Negative	Medium
Marriage and civil partnership	No differential impact identified	n/a	n/a
Pregnancy and maternity	Negative impact on people who are pregnant or travelling with babies and young children and may struggle to walk or cycle to access shops, services, parks, etc but do not have a Blue Badge. The charges will have a negative impact on young people/families who may not be able to use other modes of transport and use the car to access parks and other services. Budget Consultation responses: “Some residents did mention, however, that not every York resident has the option to avoid the city centre car parks, and this may disproportionately affect those without the ability to use public transport e.g. those with health issues”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report Some areas, for example Bishopthorpe Road shops and services, are not well served by public transport, reducing the range of alternative modes of transport available. The 10% increase in charges for resident parking permits (larger increases for 2^nd and 3^rd vehicle) may also have a negative impact on families with young children Budget consultation response: “However, other residents did not think all multicar households were wealthy, and worried about the impact on larger families and houses of multiple occupancy (e.g. shared house)”. Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report	Negative	Medium
Race	The same impacts identified under “Gender” apply here.	Negative	Medium
Religion and belief	Impacts on access to places of worship as some streets used to offer free parking on Sundays to support access to main religious services. The same impacts identified under “Gender” may also apply here.	Negative	Medium
Sexual orientation	The same impacts identified under “Gender” apply here.	Negative	Medium
Other Socio-economic groups including :	Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer	Impacts on carers are similar to impacts identified under the “Age” and “Disability” categories. Where charges make it more expensive to access shops (such as Bishopthorpe Road and East Parade), this may have a negative impact on carers shopping or picking up prescriptions for the people they care for. This is reflected in the Budget Consultation responses where carers were significantly more likely to oppose the increase in parking charges (41%), compared to non-carers (29%). Source: Budget Consultation 2025/26 (Winter) – Report	Negative	Medium
Low income groups	Although the objective of the changes is to encourage the use of public transport and sustainable modes of transport, increases in charges are likely to have a negative impact on low-income groups who may not be able to continue accessing shops, services, parks, etc by car and may not be able to use alternative modes of transport.	Negative	Medium
Veterans, Armed Forces Community	No differential impact identified	n/a	n/a
Other
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.	No human rights impact identified

Use the following guidance to inform your responses:

Indicate:

- Where you think that the proposal could have a POSITIVE impact on any of the equality groups like promoting equality and equal opportunities or improving relations within equality groups

- Where you think that the proposal could have a NEGATIVE impact on any of the equality groups, i.e. it could disadvantage them

- Where you think that this proposal has a NEUTRAL effect on any of the equality groups listed below i.e. it has no effect currently on equality groups.

It is important to remember that a proposal may be highly relevant to one aspect of equality and not relevant to another.

High impact (The proposal or process is very equality relevant)	There is significant potential for or evidence of adverse impact The proposal is institution wide or public facing The proposal has consequences for or affects significant numbers of people The proposal has the potential to make a significant contribution to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights.
Medium impact (The proposal or process is somewhat equality relevant)	There is some evidence to suggest potential for or evidence of adverse impact The proposal is institution wide or across services, but mainly internal The proposal has consequences for or affects some people The proposal has the potential to make a contribution to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights
Low impact (The proposal or process might be equality relevant)	There is little evidence to suggest that the proposal could result in adverse impact The proposal operates in a limited way The proposal has consequences for or affects few people The proposal may have the potential to contribute to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights

Step 5 - Mitigating adverse impacts and maximising positive impacts

5.1

Based on your findings, explain ways you plan to mitigate any unlawful prohibited conduct or unwanted adverse impact. Where positive impacts have been identified, what is been done to optimise opportunities to advance equality or foster good relations?

Blue Badge holders will continue to be able to park free of charge in car parks, on street and in Resident parking areas. City of York Council has adopted the Council’s Local Transport Strategy which aims to improve the availability and quality of sustainable modes of transport. Measures included in the budget, in line with he Transport Strategy, aim to support the use of sustainable modes of transport. These measures include bus subsidies, investment in active and sustainable travel, and highway improvements which will support a greater range of people (including more people with protected characteristics) to choose to use sustainable modes of travel, improving health and wellbeing and helping to reduce car dependency. The increased parking charges may have a positive impact (by helping to reduce traffic congestion, increasing the reliability of bus services, making the roads safer for walking and cycling). There is also the potential for positive impact in terms of improved air quality (due to reduced traffic congestion).

Step 6 – Recommendations and conclusions of the assessment

6.1	Having considered the potential or actual impacts you should be in a position to make an informed judgement on what should be done. In all cases, document your reasoning that justifies your decision. There are four main options you can take:
- No major change to the proposal – the EIA demonstrates the proposal is robust.  There is no                         potential  for unlawful discrimination or adverse impact and you have taken all opportunities to    advance equality and foster good relations, subject to continuing monitor and review.
- Adjust the proposal – the EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. This involves taking steps to remove any barriers, to better advance quality or to foster good relations. - Continue with the proposal (despite the potential for adverse impact) – you should clearly set out the justifications for doing this and how you believe the decision is compatible with our obligations under the duty - Stop and remove the proposal – if there are adverse effects that are not justified and cannot be mitigated, you should consider stopping the proposal altogether. If a proposal leads to unlawful discrimination it should be removed or changed. Important: If there are any adverse impacts you cannot mitigate, please provide a compelling reason in the justification column.
Option selected		Conclusions/justification
Continue with the proposal		City of York Council has adopted the Council’s Local Transport Strategy which aims to improve the availability and quality of sustainable modes of transport. Measures included in the budget, in line with he Transport Strategy, aim to support the use of sustainable modes of transport. These measures include bus subsidies, investment in active and sustainable travel, and highway improvements which will support a greater range of people (including more people with protected characteristics) to choose to use sustainable modes of travel, improving health and wellbeing and helping to reduce car dependency. The increased parking charges may have a positive impact (by helping to reduce traffic congestion, increasing the reliability of bus services, making the roads safer for walking and cycling). There is also the potential for positive impact in terms of improved air quality (due to reduced traffic congestion).

Step 7 – Summary of agreed actions resulting from the assessment

7.1	What action, by whom, will be undertaken as a result of the impact assessment.
Impact/issue		Action to be taken	Person responsible	Timescale
Monitor potential for negative impact on protected groups (as identified above)		Monitoring impacts through parking data collection (where available) and feedback received by CYC	Michael Howard, Head of Highways and Transport	On-going once changes are implemented

Step 8 - Monitor, review and improve

8. 1	How will the impact of your proposal be monitored and improved upon going forward?   Consider how will you identify the impact of activities on protected characteristics and other marginalised groups going forward? How will any learning and enhancements be capitalised on and embedded?
	CYC will collate and review feedback received following the decision to change the charges and the implementation of the changes. Charges are reviewed annually.