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(this page creeted in February 2009 and revised 21 Jan 2010)

2009 TOLL increase postponed

On Thursday 5 February 2009, Merseytravel met to discuss increasing tolls - cars going up to £1.60 and the other classes going up to £3.10, £4.70 and £6.20. There was some confusion as to what Merseytravel were doing. The fact is that they agreed to the increase in the tolls, but to "discount" these tolls up to 31 March 2010. The rest of this page gives more details.
Message to councillors before the meeting   What happened at the meeting   What happened after   Press reports.

This is the message that we sent to all the 18 councillors before the meeting

Dear Councillor,

From what was published in the press last Friday, we are aware that at your Budget meeting this Thursday you will be considering a possible increase in Tunnel tolls.
We have not seen the agenda report but we are aware that the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004 gave the power for Merseytravel to increase tolls based on the movement in RPI since November 1999. As the Act also says that the toll can be rounded up, this means that the present £1.40 toll for a car could go to £1.60, with corresponding increases for other vehicles.

As you will know the Act says that when making an increase, Merseytravel should have "regard" to matters of an "economic or social nature" on Merseyside. As you may also know under part of the former legislation which was not repealed and still applies, Merseytravel also has the power to "cease to demand, take and recover tolls in respect of traffic or any class of traffic passing through or into any of the tunnels".

The report in the press suggested that Merseytravel was likely to decide to leave the tolls at their current level. We hope that those reports turn out to be correct, but we would like to remind you of some reasons why in our view the tolls should not be increased -

1. You will be well aware of the state of the economy nationally and locally. In the particular case of Merseyside it would be strange if shortly after the Government has given a substantial amount of help to the two car plants in the area, a charge on drivers is raised.

2. As you will also be aware drivers as a whole pay far more in taxes (about £50 billion) a year than is spent on the roads. The system is particularly unfair on people who live in the few areas in Britain where there are tolls on top of the other taxes. Merseyside is the hardest hit as it has had a toll far longer than in most areas (the Birkenhead tunnel has been open and collecting tolls since 17th December 1933), it is already one of the highest tolls in the country and the only one that is in the middle of an urban area.

3. Users of trains and ferries on Merseyside receive a large subsidy which possibly amounts to 50 per cent of the costs. Most bus users do not receive any direct help, but may indirectly gain from the payments made to operators for Concessionary travel. Tunnels users on the other hand already pay more than the cost of running the Tunnels. Prior to the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004, Merseytravel was taking about £3 million each year from the Tunnels for its General Fund. The 2004 Act allowed more money to be taken. We have not seen the current year's draft budget, but the 2008/09 budget showed (not on the Tunnels page but under "Funds Management") that over £7 million (£3,493,000 plus £3,663,000) was to be taken from the Tunnels of which £700,000 was for the Ferries.

Tolls under normal circumstances hinder the economy. This was one reason why at the beginning of December the people in the Manchester area voted four to one against the proposed road tolls (despite a massive financial inducement from the Government and a very well funded advertising campaign). We believe that a Mersey Tunnels toll increase would cause further damage to this area and cause more firms in the services and distribution sectors to relocate to untolled areas.

If on Thursday a motion is moved that would increase the tolls, we ask that you vote against it.


What happened at the Merseytravel meeting

One of us was at the meeting where the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority (more commonly known as Merseytravel) met to consider their budget for the year starting in April 2009 and to consider a possible increase in Tunnel tolls. The budget was very quickly disposed of and discussion of the Tunnel tolls took up most of the meeting which showed how badly informed most of the councillors are. They did not seem to be aware that the Tunnels were making a large profit (over £6 million a year). Presumably at Christmas 2008 when Merseytravel were getting publicity for giving some of the "overpaid" tunnel tolls to charity, or when in January 2009 they agreed to spend £150,000 of tolls to mark the anniversary of the Royal Visit in 1934, they thought these tolls were manna from heaven!

Deciding on tolls is not simple. Since the change in the law that Merseytravel managed to get though Parliament in 2004, they have to decide each February whether to increase tolls based on the movement in RPI since November 1999. The Act says that the toll can be rounded up, so that with inflation the current £1.40 toll for a car could go to £1.60, with corresponding increases for other vehicles. The Act also says that when making an increase, Merseytravel should have "regard" to matters of an "economic or social nature" on Merseyside. In fact there do not have to be any tolls as under part of the former legislation which was not repealed and still applies, Merseytravel also has the power to "cease to demand, take and recover tolls in respect of traffic or any class of traffic passing through or into any of the tunnels".

At the meeting the proposal was that the tolls be increased from 1 April 2009 with the toll for cars going to £1.60 and the tolls for other vehicles ranging up to £6.20. It was also proposed that there be a "discount" so that in practice the tolls would stay at the old rates till 31st March 2010.

Councillor Blakeley, a Tory councillor from the Wirral, moved an amendment which pointed out that all tolls in Scotland had been removed and that people who lived near the Government owned crossing at Dartford were now getting a substantial discount. The amendment proposed that residents of Liverpool and Wirral should get a smaller discount from April 2010. The amendment also proposed that from the same date the Tunnels should be completely toll free to everyone between the hours of 6 PM and 6 AM.

The other parties accused the Wirral Tories of political posturing. They said that only 3 per cent of people used the Tunnels and that it was wrong that other people should subsidise them. The Wirral Tories responded that at the moment it was the users of the Tunnels who were subsidising the people of Sefton and the other authorities who were using the buses and trains. They also pointed to the £70 million that had been spent on the abortive tram to Knowsley. The officers claimed that the cost of the Wirral Tory proposal would be £22 million and that it was unworkable so that they would have to remove all tolls for everyone which would cost nearly £38 million. The officers also suggested that this was illegal.

After a long discussion (including an adjournment in which the Lib Dems considered how they should react to the amendment), there was a vote where the amendment was debated (all those present voted against apart from the two Wirral Tories – Councillors Blakeley and Ian Lewis). The original motion was then put and only the two Wirral councillors voted against it.

The councillors (with the same two voting against it), then voted to increase the tolls with cars going up to £1.60 and the other classes going up to £3.10, £4.70 and £6.20. The increase is nominally "from April 2009". The "freeze" is that they are "discounting" these tolls up to 31 March 2010.

What happened after the meeting

After the meeting, we gave a statement to the press which included -
"It is a relief that they were not rash enough to increase tolls immediately, but it is most disappointing that they appear to have agreed to put the tolls up next year. The tolls are an economic liability for this region in good times as well as bad. We have been paying tolls for over 75 years (the Birkenhead tunnel opened in December 1933) and they should have been removed long ago."

"In our view those who voted for this increase and voted against the amendment were misinformed. The discount scheme that was first suggested by us was on the basis that the cost would be met by the Government which is in effect what is happening at Dartford. As for removing the tolls at night, the Tunnels are currently making a surplus of over six million pounds, which might have covered the loss of income at night."

"It is high time that this millstone round our necks was removed, I hope that all those who live and work in the region will press their local councillors and MPs to get the Government to take over the Tunnels and remove the tolls completely"
Copy of the 2009 Revision of Tolls Order (pdf file).

Some of the press reports before and after the meeting

30 Jan 2009 - Daily Post - "Tunnel tolls may be frozen".
5 Feb 2009 - Click Liverpool - "Tunnel tolls to rise by 14%... next year".
5 Feb 2009 - Wirral News - "Mersey tunnel tolls are frozen until March 2010".
5 Feb 2009 - BBC - "Mersey Tunnel tolls are 'frozen'".
6 Feb 2009 - Daily Post - "Free Mersey Tunnel tolls plan thrown out".
11 Feb 2009 - Wirral News - "Tunnel tolls will remain at their current level until next March – but Merseytravel has rejected a bid to introduce a residents’ discount".

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