Local Transport Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 119A: 119A: Schedule 6, page 114, line 32, at end insert— ““(1C) The net proceeds of any charging scheme shall not negatively influence any other funding given to an authority.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I apologise that I did not move this amendment in Committee. I did not because we were trying to work closely with the Government to get as much done as we could before Christmas. I mentioned the point on Second Reading. I have been around a long while in local government. Governments of all parties like to find ways of restricting their expenditure to local government. I can see that this is a marvellous opportunity for Governments to say in the future that local government should raise £100 million from road charging and so we will deduct £100 million from the transport grants we give them this year. We see that sort of thing happening with efficiency savings and every other thing that the Government have a policy on. They generally deduct funding from the whole revenue support grant, capital grants or whatever is given to local government. The amendment is designed to try to get a promise from the Government that they are not going to do that with road-pricing schemes. They are putting the political problem to local government. There is not, as was said earlier today, a national enthusiasm for road-pricing schemes. I was reading some research yesterday that the public really want to see that road-pricing schemes would improve transport infrastructure and transport generally and not be another tax on using roads and so on, given they feel that they pay enough tax already through their petrol tax, car duty and so on. We see this as a repeat of what happens with efficiency savings and other things, with any Government, perhaps in the future, saying, ““You could have raised £50 million, or £100 million on road schemes and we will penalise you for it””. I would like the noble Lord to give a commitment from the Government that that will not be the case. If road charging and road schemes are put in by local authorities the revenue could be used by that local authority for improvement of transport systems. That could be for bus schemes or all sorts of things. It would improve the public’s perception of road pricing rather than just being another sort of tax. I beg to move.