New road tolls: Labour bill would let private firms charge drivers

Private companies could be handed licences to charge drivers tolls on new and upgraded roads in England under a new Bill put before Parliament this month. The Highways (Financing) Bill was brought forward by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, and the Government says it will speed up the building of the country's infrastructure. It arrives while millions of households are still squeezed by the cost of living.

The Bill covers roads that are yet to be built, and existing roads that are being upgraded to carry more traffic. A firm could be granted a licence to charge a toll if it is responsible for building a highway, for increasing the capacity of one, or for maintaining it. In other words, the door is open to tolls on far more of the network than the handful of crossings drivers pay for today.

Licences would be issued by the Office of Rail and Road, the industry regulator, but the Transport Secretary would have the final say on consenting to them. Documents published with the Bill say a licence can run for a set period, or simply continue until it is revoked by the regulator or by the Secretary of State.

There is a ceiling on what can be charged. Under the Bill, any approved toll is subject to a maximum level set by the Office of Rail and Road, and that maximum is based on the operator recovering its economic costs. What that works out at in pounds and pence on any given road is not set out in the Bill.

For context, the RAC estimates there are currently 20 toll roads in the UK, and 18 of those are river crossings, with the rest mainly on motorways and A-roads. Drivers have already seen what happens when charges rise on an existing crossing. The Dartford Crossing put its fees up by 40 per cent on 1 September last year.

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden accused the Government of planning a "stealth tax bonanza" ahead of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first Budget next month. He said Labour was "trying to slyly slip out plans for charging for road use with no thought as to even capping what could be charged while potentially creating a wild west of punitive new charges", adding that ministers "keep hammering away at drivers who they simply see as a cash cow".

He also pointed to charges already in the pipeline. From 2028, under the Electric Vehicle Excise Duty signed off by former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, electric car owners will pay three pence for every mile they drive and plug-in hybrid drivers will pay 1.5p, as the Treasury tries to replace money it expects to lose from fuel duty.

AA President Edmund King said drivers would welcome improvements to the road network but warned that private contractors should not take advantage. He noted that motorists already hand over £34billion a year in fuel duty and road tax, and said extra charges would be a "toll too far". A Department for Transport spokesperson rejected the criticism, saying it was "simply not true" that the Bill allows unchecked tolling, that no licence holder could introduce a toll without permission, and that every toll would be capped and independently regulated. The department pointed to a record £24billion for road repairs, the Lower Thames Crossing and the first Road Safety Strategy in a decade.

For ordinary households, the detail that matters is simple. Once the power to toll a road exists in law, it tends to get used, and the cap is set by a regulator rather than by a vote in Parliament. Families who already budget carefully for fuel, insurance and repairs would be picking up another cost for journeys they have little choice but to make.