New charge adds to motoring taxes

A national road-pricing charge should be added to existing environmental and fuel taxes to encourage motorists to leave their cars at home, according to the Government’s climate change advisory body.

Up until now it has been assumed that a pay-as-you-go motoring charge of the future would replace road tax (VED) and fuel taxes, but according to the Committee on Climate Change, road pricing could by 2020 save 5.6 million tonnes of CO₂ a year.

It believes that fuel duty should be retained because it plays a crucial role in providing incentives for purchase of electric cars, increasing electric car cost savings relative to conventional cars.

The report calculates that a road-user charge could deliver a saving in emissions of as much as fifteen per cent.

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) has campaigned for road-user charges for over fifteen years, but believes that in order to be equitable any such a scheme must operate within the context of all CO₂ emissions.

A spokesperson said: “The government has said repeatedly that motorists must pay for the adverse effects they have on climate change, but the responsibility for reducing one’s carbon footprint must apply equally to all. Only a carbon tax can be equitable in this way”

• What is road-user charging?