Taxing times ahead

IT SEEMS that businesses will be asked to stump up for better buses, trains and trams as the Government runs scared of angry voters.

That is the logical conclusion from a little-noticed policy twist hidden in the Local Transport Bill, published last week.

This is the Bill that – in theory – clears the way for local authorities to launch “spy-in-the-sky� road- pricing schemes to try to solve the nation’s congestion nightmare.

As it happens, Liverpool has already lost the chance to lead the way on road-pricing, because its £1.1m bid to explore charging motorists to drive into the city centre was rejected last year.

Ten local councils remain in the running – led by Birmingham and Manchester – but those two alone are demanding that £3bn is first invested in better public transport.

With only £2bn set aside by the Department for Transport (DfT) for all major local transport innovations, the safe bet is that no road-pricing schemes will happen quickly.

After all, ministers – left terrified by the 2m-signature protest petition that hit the No.10 website – have already backed away from a national satellite- tracking scheme.

So, as all big towns and cities nervously contemplate rush-hour gridlock, where can the money be found to improve public transport?

Well, this Bill will – for the first time – allow councils to grab a slice of that £2bn Transport Innovation Fund (Tif) if they agree to slap a tax on staff using company car parks.

So-called “workplace parking charges� have been law for a full seven years, but not a single authority has exploited this revenue stream.

They know businesses will resent having to shoulder the cost, as trying to pass the charges on to staff is likely to prove impractical.

I assumed the workplace levy idea was as dead as a dodo, until transport minister Rosie Winterton suddenly gave it the kiss of life last week.

The minister told journalists: “We have set up this fund to be innovative. Workplace parking measures can be part of demand management.�

Furthermore, Ms Winterton – who repeatedly pointed to workplace charges as a solution – made her comments as another tax on local businesses looms.

Last month, the Government gave the go-ahead to town halls levying a “supplementary business rate� to raise tens of millions of pounds for transport projects, such as Merseytram.

I suspect company bosses will not welcome this potential double whammy.