Paying for the roads we
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need Radical new proposals by BRF
• A National Roads Authority with a network of Regional Roads Boards, and separate Boards for Scotland and Wales and Metropolitan Boards for London and other conurbations is proposed by the British Road Federation.
The report: "Roads—A New Approach" published this week, suggests that all licence duties on commercial vehicles and cars and is. of the levy on every gallon of motor fuel should be separated from other road taxes and become charges to finance roadbuilding.
The two-year study by a working party led by Mr. Alec Dude, a vice-chairman of the Federation and director-general of the Automobile Association warns that Government spending on roads is likely to remain "grossly inadequate" because there is no clear link between expenditure and the level of road use. Road spending is too low because expenditure is not based on market considerations but on political pressures. -Successive governments have refused to relate road taxation to road expenditure on the principle that all taxation must be treated as general revenue. Some way must be found round this institutional taboo if roads are to receive their proper share of national resources".
The Federation considers that the proposed separation of road user taxes, with licence duties and part of the levy on motor fuel being paid to the National Roads Authority, would not hurt the Government financially since the balance would equal the sums which remain after the allocation of funds for road building and maintenance. And road users would not have to pay more.
The report criticizes the present system under which investment is treated as current expenditure. -No nationalized undertaking", it states, "is expected to finance capital expenditure designed to increase capacity to meet future demand entirely out of current revenue". A large increase in investment over a relatively short period is foreseen if the Authority were empowered to raise loans on the open market and from Local Authorities as well as the Exchequer.
As revenue from road user taxation is increasing by an average of £.90m. a year the BRF believes that this would support a loan investment over 30 years of iip00m. —enough to finance another 1,200 miles of motorway or major road improvements in a number of principal towns.
The proposals envisage the Minister of Transport remaining responsible for general policy matters but the Authority being autonomous in its day to day management, with responsibilty for planning, financing and administering all trunk and principal roads. The role of local authorities would change but they would have a majority on the Roads Boards ensuring that Boards would not be able to carry out a road programme contrary to the plans of local authorities.