Pressure is mounting on the
DfT and Treasury to ring-fence the money raised by the
HGV Road User Levy for the benefit of the road transport sector.
The levy, which could begin in April 2014 if approved by Parliament, and will see operations pay a daily charge of up to a £10 or a maximum of £1,000 a year per truck to use of UK roads, is expected to raise net revenues of £20m.
Almost all of this will be from foreign-registered trucks but so far no specific plans for the money have been proposed by the government, however both the
FTA and
RHA have called for it to be used to the benefit of the industry.
FTA policy and communications MD James Hookham said any revenue should be used for “the betterment of the sector”.
The FTA also wants “a published income and expenditure statement that shows what was collected and what it was spent on,” said Hookham.
The variation in international traffic flows, exchange rates and the degree of enforcement means that the net revenue of the scheme will probably vary from £15m to 20m. he added.
A director of policy Jack Semple said his association had already put similar proposals across:
“It’s a small sum in terms of the major projects at the DfT and a small sum in terms of Treasury numbers. But if it can be used on specific things within the road haulage sector, the money could be used to very good effect,” he said.
Semple said he was “surprised” by the DfT’s confirmation last week that the levy would not require vehicles to display a sticker to show payment of the charge, instead relying on the use of automatic number plate recognition and roadside enforcement by Vosa.
He added: “I think the fact that we’re getting the scheme at all is positive. We have a commitment from government that enforcement will be reasonably effective”.
Source: motortransport.co.uk