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Off to a good start but we need detailed transport plans

20th December 2007
Page 10
Page 10, 20th December 2007 — Off to a good start but we need detailed transport plans
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers made a good impression on

the RHA; Andy Salter went in search of substance behind tie rhetoric.

THERESA VILLIERS' speech at the Road Haulage Association Lunch was a sabre-rattling affair. Although it was heavy on rhetoric, talk of tackling congestion, reducing the number of foreign trucks on our roads and raising the speed limit on single-carriageway A-roads certainly hit the spot with the assembled members.

Eight weeks after her RHA debut I caught up with Villiers at her Westminster office to find out more about her policies.

There's clearly much work to be done, but I got the impression Villiers is warming to the task. "I'm the sort of person who likes to get heavily involved in my portfolio." she explained. "I've had a lot of contact with the RHA and FTA, I'm planning to go and take a look at Dick Denby's longer.heavier vehicle and I've been invited to go and drive a truck, courtesy of an VIA member, at the end of January."

Closing the door In her RHA address the shadow Transport Secretary appeared to close the door on the possibility of fuel duty cuts, but it would appear that since then her attitude may have softened a little: -While we can't make a commitment to cut fuel duty no that's not to say it will never happen," she remarked, leaving a glimmer of hope.

Our meeting took place as some haulage groups were calling for direct action against the rising cost of fuel. "It's not a surprise that there's talk of renewed fuel protests," she said. But I wouldn't encourage anyone to break the law, cause panic buying or upset Christmas for the country."

Rather than getting drawn into a discussion around fuel duty, Villiers wanted to"look at levelling the playing field with foreign competition.

Pro LRUC

"We want to see tougher enforcement of unroadworthy foreign trucks and we're committed to bringing in lorry roaduser charging (LRUC)."

Regular readers of CM will be aware that your correspondent has some concerns regarding a highly technical approach to LRUC — notably cost. complexity and reliability.

I was interested to see how Villiers sees LRUC and was disappointed to discover that firm policies were actually a bit thin on the ground: "We've committed to doing it and will bring more detail as time permits.

"We are reviewing the technology in use in other schemes. The key things to be considered are the cost of running it, the administration required, the hassle for the user and the reliability."

While Villiers' planned trip to see Denby's B-Double rig is certainly promising, it doesn't signal the green light for bigger trucks on UK roads. I did press her for a commitment but Villiers prefers to sit on the fence:"We await with inter est the results of the government study," she said.

But what would her response be if the study comes out in favour of LHVs? Villiers doggedly maintained the politician's stance: "I'm reserving judgement on this issue for now."

A little more information was forthcoming about raising the speed limit on single-carriageway A-roads: "There is a case for rais ing the national limit 'for LOVs] to 50mph," she conceded, "while giving local highways authorities the ability to set a lower limit, as they can now. A higher limit, while undoubtedly receiving a mixed response from public, will bring benefits for the industry and other road users."

Villiers' predecessor, Chris Cirayling,worked hard to understand the road transport sector and early indications are that Villiers will do the same.

Time for action

However, the time for talking will soon be at an end. While the right noises are currently beingmade about policy initiatives, it's time to start putting some flesh of the bare bones of policies. Road transport has traditionally been a Conservative industry. But if the Tories are going to convince the sceptics of their transport credentials, we need to see some specific plans.

Admittedly the election is 18 months away, but to tackle the big issues in transport requires careful thought and consideration.

We've had soundbites and policy initiatives from all sides of the political divide— the industry now requires some detail.

Tags

Organisations: VIA

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