Decision details

Ensures the permits offered for the congestion charge are appropriate and workable.

Amendments to the approved scheme

1.    Clarification that emergency and health service vehicles, military vehicles, highway and traffic works vehicles and statutory undertakers’ vehicles are not chargeable, in line with other local traffic orders

2.    Amendment of central permit area workplace parking users permit eligibility criteria to clarify that users of public car parking not subject to a specific arrangement between the employer and car park operator are ineligible

3.    Amendment of central permit area sports clubs or military training permit to include parents or carers with children enrolled at a preschool or nursery in the central permit area

4.    Amendment of the central permit area residents permit eligibility criteria to include residents outside the central permit area whose normal parking provision is unavailable and alternative parking has been temporarily provided inside the central permit area

5.    Amendment of the Oxford permit area resident and Oxfordshire permit area resident permits to clarify

a)    that houses in multiple occupation will be treated as a single address for the whole house, not one address per rented room

b)    that university students living in halls of residence and school students living in accommodation provided by a school are not eligible for a permit

Using the same numbering as above:

1. These are standard exemptions in OCC traffic orders, but were not explicitly referred to in Annex 1 of the September 2025 cabinet report.  They are included here for completeness.  The numbers are low and the majority of vehicles covered by these exemptions are not cars, so the impact on the scheme’s outcomes would be negligible.

2. The reference to “Central Permit Area workplace parking” in Annex 1 of the September 2025 cabinet report is not intended to include any form of public parking. For the avoidance of doubt, officers recommend the following public car parking is explicitly excluded from eligibility (unless an employer has a specific arrangement with the car park owner for employees to use the car park as workplace parking):

•              All on-street parking

•              Westgate public car park

•              Oxpens public car park

•              Worcester Street public car park

•              Oxford station long stay car park

3. There are two nurseries in the Central Permit Area.  Whilst most parents and carers do not bring their children by car, nurseries are concerned that those who do will need to pay the congestion charge, and this could amount to a significant sum for those whose children attend nursery most or all days of the week.  Those attending nursery are no more able to use public transport than workplace parking users, who are eligible for a permit.  The numbers involved are low (fewer than 50 families across both nurseries), and eligibility can be proven straightforwardly with a letter from the nursery. The impact on the scheme’s outcomes would be negligible.

4. Residential on-street parking or other car parking provision outside the central permit area may need to be suspended from time to time to facilitate road or building construction works.  If residents’ alternative provision is within the central permit area, they will need to be eligible for a permit.

5. (a) Houses in multiple occupation (like all residential addresses) are eligible for a set maximum number of permits per address.  This change clarifies that the “address” refers to the whole house, not individual rooms within the house.  This is consistent with the approach taken to residents’ parking permits.

(b) “Per address” permit limits become unworkable for large shared buildings, such as student halls of residence or school boarding accommodation where several hundred residents may share a single postal address.  Most halls of residence are car-free.

Officers considered not making these changes but consider they are appropriate, and are confident the changes will not materially alter the scheme’s impacts given the small numbers of vehicles involved.