Pay-as-you-drive scheme ‘will be a poll tax on wheels’
Chancellor eyes controversial plan to plug £40billion shortfall created by the ‘electric car revolution’
PLANS to charge motorists for using Britain’s roads would represent a ‘ poll tax on wheels’, motoring groups warned yesterday.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be considering a national road pricing scheme to plug a £40billion shortfall created by the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars.
One option being considered would mean drivers having to pay for every mile they travel.
Road charging was first mooted as a possibility in 1964, but the idea has been ditched by successive governments over fears of a major backlash from motorists.
Although the Conservatives have been reluctant to consider the proposals, they are now giving them serious thought.
It comes amid fears the switch to electric cars will cost the Treasury £40billion a year in lost fuel duty and car tax. Fuel duty is expected to raise £27.5billion this financial year – 1.3 per cent of national income.
Vehicle Excise Duty will raise £7.1billion and VAT on fuel will add £5.7billion to the Treasury’s coffers.
The AA said it understood the need for a new system to levy tax on electric vehicles, but it yesterday called for an ‘ imaginative solution’ that is fair on drivers.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘The Government can’t afford to lose £40billion from fuel duty and car tax when the electric revolution arrives.
‘It is always assumed that road pricing would be the solution but that has been raised every five years since 1964 and is still perceived by most as a “poll tax on wheels”.
‘We need a more imaginative solution and have proposed “road miles” whereby every driver gets 3,000 free miles, with one third more for those living in rural areas, and then a small charge thereafter.’
Critics have also voiced privacy concerns over the vehicletracking technology and cameras which will be needed to enforce a pay-per-mile scheme.
Howard Cox, of the FairFuelUK pressure group, said: ‘Drivers will worry about privacy issues from tracking devices being fitted to cars, which no doubt will resurface if road pricing takes over from fuel duty.
‘Road pricing will be a costly and a meddling system that’s expensive to administer.
‘It may be revenue-neutral but it isn’t cost-neutral. It seems a given that fuel duty will disappear and while it would be difficult to apply something similar for electric cars, the Government won’t bring in a tax on electricity to charge zeroemission cars for political reasons. Or will it?
‘That would put a dent in their green credentials.’
A survey by the RAC found 44 per cent of the country’s drivers believe that a pay-per-mile road pricing system would be fairer than fuel duty.
Experts at the Institute of Economic Affairs believe road charges should vary according to levels of congestion, with drivers paying nothing when the roads are very quiet.
Finance professor Philip Booth, a fellow at the Rightwing think-tank, said in a letter to The Times: ‘ The Treasury must not use road pricing as a cash cow. Charges should vary with congestion so that empty roads bear low or zero charges.’
The Treasury last night declined to comment.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that only one in six local councils has introduced on- street electric car charging points and dozens have no plans to do so.
The disclosures, which emerged in Freedom of Information requests submitted by the AA, underline serious flaws in the Prime Minister’s plan to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles.
The phasing out of fossil fuel is seen as a vital part of the effort to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Boris Johnson will this week announce that a ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars will be brought forward to 2030. The previous aim was 2035.
The AA asked 353 English local authorities for details of their on-street vehicle charging infrastructure, as well as any plans. Of the 316 which responded, 266 (84 per cent) said they did not have any chargers and 47 said they had no plans to introduce them.
AA president Mr King said: ‘If the Government plans to adopt the phase-out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, then more focus and support is needed to boost local infrastructure.’
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘ The United Kingdom has one of the most extensive charging networks in Europe, with our £2.5 billion programme to support grants for plug-in vehicles and funding for chargepoint infrastructure, making it easier than ever to access a charge point.’
‘It’s a costly and meddling system’