A decision to delay plans to scrap free parking for council employees has been seen as a small victory by those fighting for the perk.

Council staff who are members of the Unison union gathered outside the civic offices in Shute End before a meeting of the personnel board on Tuesday last week to protest against plans to introduce parking charges and changes to the mileage allowance system.

The proposals are among a number put forward by the council in a cost-cutting exercise it hopes will save £1.2 million by March 2011.

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At its meeting the board was asked to approve requests which would see free parking removed from non-school council employees, ward members between 9am and 5pm, partner organisations, contractors and consultants using authority owned sites or car parks.

It was also asked to give the green light to plans to revise the car mileage scheme, which would see allowances for staff on earnings of £44,000 or more reduced from £700 a year to £400, while those earning lesser amounts could soon expect to claim between £100 and £200 respectively.

However, the board voted to postpone approving any of the requests for a month so members could look at the proposals in greater detail.

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The decision prompted Paul Bee, branch secretary of Wokingham UNISON, to suggest members could enjoy a “satisfactory evening”.

Members of Unison are concerned decisions about the two issues are being made without a full consultation process.

They fear some staff could lose around £1,400 if both requests are granted and say the measures are not cost effective.

Members also claim the proposals are an additional financial burden being added to an already depressed workforce and that it would be like a three per cent back door pay cut for staff.

Mr Bee welcomed the decision to defer approval of the changes to parking and mileage, which was proposed by Graham Ebers, general manager of business services.

Mr Bee said: “We appreciate the fact that the personnel board are taking the matter extremely seriously and look forward to future dialogue as we negotiate this outstanding issue.

“Unison are also very happy that we have support from our National Union of Teachers (NUT) colleagues, who could also potentially suffer from the erosion of the terms and conditions of employment.”

Fellow member Malcolm Lee added: “We know the wider public will support the proposals but they have got to understand morale at this council is so low and people are worried about being made redundant.

“We know the service is going to be reduced and morale is low as a result of that. I hope the public take a note of that fact because it is going to get worse for us.”

At the meeting Mr Ebers put forward a revised recommendation asking for the deferral because he said the council accepts the proposals, which only went public last month, were put together “at speed”.

Councillor David Chopping, ward member for Emmbrook and personnel board member, said he liked the idea of the proposal.

“We have not looked at the issues enough,” he said.

“There have been some interesting suggestions from other quarters and out or courtesy to out staff we should look at these ideas and look to see if anything can be more practical.”

Fellow member Cllr Alistair Auty added: “We do need to look at it in a bit more detail and the impacts it could have on staff who work part time or full time and are on a lower take home.

“I’m 100 per cent supportive of the savings because these are tough times but we need to look at these.”

What do you think of the proposal to make staff pay to park? Leave your comments below.

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