Huddersfield MP: 'I need more free parking'

Mar 1 2010 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

COUNCILLORS will decide if MPs should get extra parking passes.

Each Member of Parliament in Kirklees has one permit allowing them to park without paying.

But tomorrow, Kirklees Council’s Cabinet will consider giving each of them a second pass.

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman says he needs another permit in order to do his job more efficiently.

The Labour man, whose office is in Cross Church Street, said: “It would make a major difference to me.

“I’m right in the centre of the town and I spend every Friday travelling to schools and children’s centres.

“I have to be highly mobile and I also have two constituency case-workers who are always going out to people round the town.”

The passes entitle MPs to use car parks and on-street parking bays without paying. They can also park in residents-only zones without being fined.

In 2006, Kirklees reduced the number of parking passes per MP from two to one.

Mr Sheerman said: “I don’t see why they knocked me down to one. It’s hampered my work and tempted me to move my office to the outskirts of town.

“That extra parking pass enabled me to provide a real service to my constituents.

“It made a major difference when senior people making major decisions came to visit me.”

Mr Sheerman pointed out that all 69 Kirklees councillors have a parking pass.