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Congestion charge scheme 'quietly dropped'
MINISTERS have abandoned their bid to tempt South Yorkshire's councils into adopting road pricing as they axe a huge £2 billion fund for public transport projects.
In a statement slipped out to MPs, the Government revealed it has scrapped the controversial Transport Innovation Fund.
The Department for Transport had pledged to pay 200 million into the fund each year for 10 years from 2008/09 to 2018/19, making it a 2bn cash pot.
However, councils were told they could only win handouts from TIF if they agreed to introduce some form of "demand management", or congestion charging.
Now, in a major U-turn, the DfT announced the TIF will be dumped and replaced with a so-called Urban Challenge Fund, which will not require councils to introduce pay-as-you-drive schemes.
But crucially, the DfT has refused to say how large this new fund will be, risking accusations the Government has pulled off a huge stealth-cut in transport funding.
Whitehall's road pricing plans suffered a crippling blow in 2008 when 79 per cent of voters in Manchester overwhelmingly rejected plans for a congestion charge after a city-wide referendum. Manchester was told a "yes" vote would get the city 1.5bn of public funding for new tram lines, extra buses and trains. Following the referendum result, other councils were encouraged to bid for TIF money but only 40m was paid out.
The written statement by transport minister Sadiq Khan admitted the flaws in the policy, saying: "Its weaknesses lay in its too narrow focus on the issue of congestion, the failure to win public acceptance for the more challenging proposals, and inability to transform governance at the same time as delivering radical change.
"The new fund will draw on the lessons from TIF and the new ideas that have come forward."
However, unlike TIF, the Government is not yet committing a specific sum.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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