IN a humbug-like gesture to Christmas shoppers, Liverpool City Council is offering free parking this Saturday. 

Hang on, if it is something for nothing how does old Scrooge come into the equation? 

I bet Matta's, News from Nowhere and the
Oxfam shop are beside themselves with
excitement with promises of such a boost to sales

The good-news spinagramme proclaims: “Parking charges are to be waived by the Mayor of Liverpool on a Saturday leading up to Christmas as part of a national initiative to encourage consumers to shop local and support small businesses in their communities.” 

Fantastic, until you realise the free parking applies only to a fraction of city centre spaces. Namely, the the top of Bold Street, Renshaw Street and Newington. Within that little triangle there must be on-street parking for around 50-60 cars – more if all the vehicles are those half-sized Smart cars. 

Normal pay and display charges will remain in the hundreds of other on-street parking bays around the city centre. 

Presumably to make sure shop workers don’t grab the freebie places, the offer only kicks in after10am. 

This kind of token gesturing is a reminder of the pathetic Liverpool response (during Lib Dem rule days) to European Car Free Day when the top half of Bold Street was closed to traffic, matching the already-car-free bottom half. 

The Dec 7 freebie is part of Small Business Saturday – yet another import from the US that has already given us Mischief Night - the aim being that small businesses can promote themselves and generate trade. 

Costing the council no more than a few hundred quid in lost income, it follows a series of meetings involving the Mayor’s office, and the Forum of Private Businesses.  In Liverpool, the initiative is being led by Mayor’s office and the city council who have joined forces with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Liverpool Vision, the city’s economic development company, and City Central BID. 

Cllr Nick Small, cabinet member for employment, enterprise and skills, said: “In the US, where Small Business Saturday is an established commercial holiday, it generated $5.5 billion in sales in 2012." 

I bet Matta's, News from Nowhere and the Oxfam shop are beside themselves with excitement with promises of such a boost to sales. 

“This is a day to encourage people to visit the shops on their high streets and a day when we will celebrate small business, because they are often found at the heart of communities and they generate wealth and create jobs. This is just one day, but we rely on them every day and their importance to the economy cannot and should not be underestimated," said Cllr Small. 

The sentiment is sound, but wouldn’t it have been better to offer free parking across the whole city centre over the whole weekend, or charge a token £1 to park for as long as you want? There may be a lot of disappointed motorists come Saturday.

Small Business Saturday coincides with FSB’s Keep Trade Local campaign to raise awareness of the plight of local shops and to breathe life back into village, towns and cities. 

Brimming with excitement and enthusiasm Elaine Moore, FSB regional chairman, said Liverpool City Council’s decision to offer free parking on the day, and its policy of paying supplier invoices within 30-days, are fantastic initiatives and very welcome. 

Ms Moore, to be fair, made the all important point: “Small businesses are at the heart of Liverpool City Region’s economy and its communities, but are facing huge challenges at present. 

“Falling in the crucial pre-Christmas period, Small Business Saturday is a timely reminder for shoppers to go out and spend their money in local independent retailers. We are also launching our Keep Trade Local campaign in Liverpool - our message to consumers as far as small shops are concerned is simply ‘use them or lose them.’” 

Further support for the initiative came from City Central BID whose chairman, Ian Ward, said: “We work with more than 600 businesses in the city centre and initiatives like this are important if we are to ensure that Liverpool continues to thrive as a retail and leisure destination.” 

Meanwhile, the uphill struggle remains for small businesses in the city centre's Outer Zone who continue to be short-changed by parking policies.

Several years ago, as revealed on Liverpool Confidential,  charges in the important Hope Street area rose from £1.40 an hour to £2.20, the excuse from the council being it nedded to regulate charges across the city centre. 

But last year, when Mayor Anderson cut parking charges in the city centre to £2 an hour, the hike up on Hope Street stayed, and remains to this day. 

If we are going to pinch ideas from the US, then we have to be like them and think big.