Blackmail charge over road pricing

A House of Commons transport committee has warned the government that it risks being accused of blackmailing local authorities into introducing road pricing schemes.

The committee was also highly critical of the Government’s actions in relation to publishing its draft Local Transport Bill, which contains proposals to expand road charges.

The Bill is considered to be a precursor to the national roll out of road pricing which could cost commercial drivers and fleet managers hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.

The cross-party transport committee said it was unfair to restrict the availability of funds for much-needed improvements in the transport infrastructure to those authorities that would consider local road pricing schemes.

According to the committee, this risks blackmailing local authorities to conduct road pricing trials on behalf of the Government in advance of a possible national scheme.

In response, the Department of Transport (DfT) has said that no decisions have yet been made on national road pricing.

The Government is clear that any such decision would need to be informed by experiences from local charging schemes and should only come after a full and informed public debate, said a DfT statement.

The DfT also confirmed new legislation would be needed for a national scheme.