Local Transport Bill [HL]

My Lords, there has been general support for the provisions in the Bill that give certainty to local authorities that all the revenue from the charging schemes will be spent on local transport policies. The Government acknowledge that public acceptability of schemes increases when revenue is linked to spending on transport. That has been part of the success of the congestion charge in London. In allocating specific grants for major schemes, the department takes into consideration the level of local contribution, including, for example, any developer contributions and any revenue likely to be generated by the scheme. That is an important aspect both of an authority’s business case and of the calculation of the scheme’s value for money. As noble Lords will be aware, allocations of block capital funding and revenue support grant for local authorities are currently distributed on the basis of broad formulae intended to reflect need and in the case of revenue support grant the ability to raise council tax revenues. Such formulae do not generally take into account the other various sources of revenue available to local authorities. We have no plans to change this policy. We therefore think it unnecessary to have this amendment. There is no change in policy. It is in order for local authorities to raise funds in the way that we set out in the legislation. It will not have an impact on the revenue support grant in the way in which the noble Lord thinks that it might; nor should it impact on their ability to raise council tax revenues.