MP calls for privatisation and charging on UK roads

The government is being urged to consider road pricing and motorway privatisation as a way to fund future transport projects.

Conservative MP Tim Yeo, who chairs the Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, says politicians have until now been reluctant to embrace the huge potential offered by a radical road-pricing system.

The call comes as the Department for Transport (DfT), alongside all other government departments, has been asked to find cuts of between 25% and 40% in its £15.9bn budget before the autumn spending review.

In his pamphlet Green Gold: The Case For Raising Our Game On Climate Change, Yeo adds: "Allied to the overdue privatisation of Britain's motorways, this could fund both more investment in better roads and the immediate development of high-speed rail.

"Since it could also pay for a cut in fuel duty, the upshot would be a cut in the cost of driving for drivers who make little use of motorways."

Yeo also called on the government to consider introducing further measures to give incentives for low-emission vehicles.

A DfT spokesman says it has no plans to privatise the road network, but is considering consumer incentives for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The DfT adds that a lorry road-use charging scheme is still being considered.

Jack Semple, Road Haulage Association policy director, says the organisation would welcome tax incentives to encourage operators to buy low-emission vehicles.

Simon Chapman, chief economist at the Freight Transport Association, adds: "For road pricing to work on an environmental level, it is vital that vehicle operators are given the incentive to use their vehicles on the most appropriate roads at the most appropriate times."