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CAN WE REALLY AFFORD f3bn?
Page 10
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Last week we bemoaned the sorry state of our enforcement procedures when it comes to the flagrant disregard for our laws displayed by many foreign drivers. But this is only half the story. New figures from a joint RHA-FTA report suggest that between now and 2020, when the government may finally get around to implementing its road pricing scheme, the UK will have lost £3bn. These figures include E.195m in infrastructure damage each year and £250m in lost duty from the diesel used. That £445m a year would go a long way towards strengthening our policing of port routes, enhancing safety on our roads and eliminating the dangerous and anti-competitive elements of the international road transport business.
"Our legislators must put into place strid requirements for trucks entering this country"
Add to this the staggering £147m in unpaid road tax within the UK and you start to see a very large pot from which all the concessions the road transport industry needs could be funded.
This is primarily a failure of government, and of senior management at the enforcement agencies. Our legislators must put into place strict requirements for trucks entering this country, and immediate penalties for those who do not meet them (see last week's Comment). More people and resources must be poured into policing we must end the gross inequality of our drivers being fined and having trucks Impounded abroad while their counterparts here can break our laws with impunity.
We need a road charging system, coupled with a user rebate for commercial vehicles. The government previously tied itself into knots over the Lorry Road User Charge and led our trade associations a merry dance. But while we wait for the government to act the country continues to lose a fortune by failing to tax foreign trucks. Surely it cannot be that hard to come up with a tax that is simple, workable and above all fair.
Look at those figures again E3bn between now and 2020. The question is not how can we organise ourselves to do it but how long we can afford to wait.