Personally I have no problem with the Severn bridges being
nationalised, it just makes more sense for them to be run by the National
Assembly rather than Westminster and the Department for Transport. With that in
mind the
preparations to transfer of control of the Severn Bridges to the National
Assembly in 2018 need to start now, as if they return to Westminster (and the
Department for Transport) the tolls will never be reduced.
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| VAT or no VAT it is still a tax on jobs and businesses |
The truth is whatever Westminster based
party forms the next Westminster Governments, they and the Department for
Transport they simply cannot be trusted to put the interests of commuters and
businesses first, they will never put Wales first. For most Westminster
ministers and most Welsh MPs the Severn Bridges and tolls may be out or sight
and out of mind, but they loom large in the imagination and the wallets of long
suffering commuters, businesses and visitors.
Now while there appears
to be a general political consensus that something must be done about the
Severn bridge tolls, which is nice, but not particularly helpful. The mixed
messages from the Department for Transport on the eventual ownership of the
bridge and the potential fate of the tolls are
not helpful. Local Labour MP’s may now be jumping up and down in relation to
the Severn bridge tolls, but, this begs the question just exactly where were
they between 1997 and 2010 when their party was in government.
There is talk of when the bridges come back in public
ownership (in 2018) that the tolls may be maintained for an additional two
years to recoup the Westminster government’s expenditure on maintenance. What
may make this sting some more is that VAT will probably be dropped, so those organisations
which have been recovering their VAT from bridge tolls will have to pay in full?
Now Plaid Cymru has called for the
transfer of powers to Wales so that the tolls on the bridges can be reduced,
something that could have a considerable impact on businesses and the economy.
With control over the bridges devolved, Plaid
Cymru would cut the tolls to £2 to cover maintenance costs. The costs
for upkeep are £15 million per year, but motorists and vehicles using the
crossings currently generate £72 million pounds per year.
While the tolls would form a useful
revenue stream for Welsh Governments, the priority of Plaid Cymru is to cut the
tolls. By the time the two Severn Bridges come back into public ownership in
2018, Severn River Crossings plc will have milked its cash cow to the tune of
about £ 1.029 billion pounds. To add insult to injury the old (M48) Severn
Bridge is periodically closed at weekends for routine maintenance, which is
funded by the Department for Transport, from public coffers.
Back in 2012, Plaid Cymru submitted a
Freedom of Information request to the Department of Transport seeking details
of any correspondence between it and the Welsh Government on the level of tolls
since May 2011, the last Assembly elections. In its response the Department of
Transport merely listed emails between the Highways Agency and the Welsh
Government advising of planned increases in tolls for 2012 and 2013.
The FOI request revealed that there was
no other correspondence between the Welsh Government and the Westminster
Government. In 2012 a report for the
Welsh government suggested that abolishing the tolls would increase traffic by
an estimated 12% - equivalent to about 11,000 vehicles a day – and that businesses
and commuters forked out around £ 80 million pounds a year crossing the Severn
bridges.
In October 2010, Professor Peter
Midmore's independent economic study of the Severn Bridge tolls which
has recommended that the revenues should stay in Wales, once the crossings
revert to public hands. This study of 122 businesses was commissioned by the
Federation of Small Businesses revealed that the tolls had a negative impact on
30% of firms in South Wales, this compared with 18% in the Greater Bristol area.
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