A decision on whether Norfolk County Council staff should be charged to park at work has been put on hold.

Plans to abolish free parking for county council workers, with a daily charge introduced, were due to be discussed at a meeting today, with officers recommending approval.

Those on the highest salaries would have been charged the most, with a discount for the lowest paid.

An officer report said parking charges were needed because plans to move workers in satellite offices to County Hall would heap more pressure on existing spaces.

Under the plans, councillors would retain their right to free parking, but the policy could be extended to them in the future.

But, with trade union Unison protesting about the charges ahead of the council's policy and resources committee and the opposition Conservative leader Cliff Jordan criticising it as an 'extra tax' on council workers, councillors decided not to agree to the principle of charging just yet.

Instead, they agreed to create a task and finish group, made up of councillors and a Unison representative, to look again at the issue and to assess the capacity at County Hall's car park.

The group will report back to the policy and resources committee in November, when a recommendation will be made to full council.

Last December, a previous version of the policy was put on ice following the intervention of Wendy Thomson, the council's managing director.

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