Road transport chiefs have ridiculed the Government’s road maintenance spending ahead of next week’s Budget.
An independent report produced by RepGraph, commissioned by the Freight Transport Assocation, revealed that motorists pay seven times more in tax than is reinvested in road maintenance, with HGV tax alone covering almost all of the UK’s annual road maintenance spend.
Between 2015 and 2016, central and devolved governments and local authorities spent around £4.7 billion on road maintenance. However, in the same period, HGV taxes – including vehicle excise duty, road user levy and fuel duty – toalled £4.4 billion. The report estimates that this amount outweighs the estimated cost of damage to the UK’s road infrastructure attributed to HGV’s by three-to-one.
The total tax take from motor vehicles was in 2015-16 was £33.5 billion, a figure more than seven times as high as the road maintenance budget.
“This report supports FTA’s central points for this Budget – road freight taxes are too high and vital infrastructure spending is too low”, blasted the Freight Transport Association’s policy chief Christopher Snelling.
“Taxes on UK road freight are already the highest in Europe – any further increase would add to the cost of doing business in the UK and the cost of goods in the shops. Instead of raising duty, the Government should cut taxes on road freight to help stimulate the economy.
“The fact that HGV taxes alone almost pay for the whole of UK road maintenance also shows that Britain still does not support the quality of the roads well enough. Whether it is potholes, road closures or long running road works, we all suffer when the roads do not work as they should. Congestion is bad for the environment as well as the economy. The UK Government should provide for more spending by Highways England and our local authorities to ensure the roads are fit for purpose.”
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