• Only half our taxes go on the roads
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BRITAIN is the fourth worst "offender" among 13 European muntries in terms of the proportion of revenue taken from road Isers that is actually spent on roads.
At least it was in 1977, accordng to figures given in the Cornnons by Junior Transport Miniser Lynda Chalker.
In this country national tax avenue from road fuel duties Ind annual vehicle taxes !mounted to 4,968 million European Units of Account, while expenditure on roads in 1977 was 2,427 million EUA. ihis amounted to a 208 per cent coverage of expenditure by taxation.
At the bottom of the list is Portugal, which raised 234 million EUA and spent 74 million — which meant that the coverage of expenditure by taxation came to 316 per cent.
Ireland and Italy also come below Britain. West Germany with 9,483 million EUA raised and 8,454 million spent on roads was the nearest to equality, at 112 per cent.
The country which had the least revenue, Luxembourg, spent far more than it received on roads. Income had been 48 million EUA, with 78 million devoted to roads — which meant that taxation accounted for only 62 per cent of the expenditure on roads.
Mrs. Chalker added that the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland had also spent more on roads than they received in taxes from the roadusers.
Transport Secretary David Howell last week spelled out the road damage factors, in terms of standard axles per 100 tonnes of payload for different commercial vehicles.
For a two-axle 16 tonne rigid lorry, the factor was 11.9, for a four-axle 34 tonne articulated lorry 11.5, and for a five-axle 38 tonne articulated lorry (two-axle tractive unit) it was 8.1.