I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman refers to the Dartford crossing. I intended to speak about it, and I will do so now. The toll is not a tax; it is a congestion charge, which was changed in 2003 on the basis of modelling that showed that if there were no charge, the level of use of the tunnels and crossing would increase by some 17 per cent. To remove the toll process or congestion charge would lead to even greater congestion than that which I accept now exists at the plazas. However, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman recognises that no one must pay more than they did, because the charges for the DART-Tag system remain the same, and it eases throughput.
The hon. Gentleman will be well aware that we are undertaking various work and modelling on alternatives—for example, charging for one way only. However, we must consider the effect of that on traffic patterns and the lengths to which people might go to use alternative routes to cross the river. There are complications. The charge that has been introduced is a congestion charge, and the hon. Gentleman is well aware that residents on both sides of the crossing receive generous concessions, including free trips and reduced costs for a number of trips over a specific limit.
Motoring tax revenue is combined with all the other taxes that come in through the consolidated fund, and supports a range of Government spending priorities, so it is misleading to compare motoring tax revenue with road or transport spending by hypothecating revenue to spending on specific programmes. Doing so would reduce flexibility, and could lead to misallocation of public resources, and poor use of taxpayers' money.
Hon. Members referred to the fact that, when it is sensible and effective so to do, we link such taxes to other Government objectives, such as environmental objectives, and one instance of that is the vehicle excise duty. Hon. Members are aware that tax-raising activities are matters for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who considers each tax as part of a wider fiscal judgment in the normal Budget process, taking into account social, environmental and economic considerations.
Motoring
Proceeding contribution from
Paul Clark
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 9 March 2010.
It occurred during Adjournment debate on Motoring.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
507 c19WH 
Session
2009-10
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2024-06-21 11:51:10 +0100
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