25 May 2007
Local authorities have been given approval by the government to press ahead with pilot schemes to introduce road charging.
A draft Local Transport Bill, published on May 22, focuses on giving powers to councils to address traffic problems with limited local schemes. Ten authorities, including Manchester, Birmingham and Tyne & Wear, have expressed interest in running pilots.
A Department for Transport spokesman said this did not mean the government was pressing ahead with a national road-charging scheme — the subject of sustained opposition on 10 Downing Street's website last year. 'No decision has been made on a national scheme. We have got to see the results of the pilot schemes,' he said.
But some critics accused the government of putting local authorities in the front line against vociferous opposition. Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley and a former leader of the city council, said: 'Local authorities have every right to be sceptical. The government is trying to transfer the risk of an unpopular scheme on to local government.'
Conservative transport spokesman Chris Grayling said: 'It is clear that Gordon Brown has his eye on the revenue a national scheme would bring in.'
Liberal Democrat spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: 'If the public feel that road user pricing is just another cash cow for the Treasury, then it will meet stiff resistance and a real opportunity to reduce congestion will be missed.'
The draft Bill also gives local authorities more power over bus services in an attempt to reverse falling passenger numbers outside London.
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