News

One well-hidden part of the Budget sure to cause controversy is the fact the government has abandoned plans to charge foreign trucks for using the UK’s roads.

The decision was not announced in the Chancellor’s speech and indeed is not featured on the Treasury’s website. However, in an email to the FTA, the government says: “The conclusions of the Freight Data Feasibility Study will be published shortly,  identifying that the options, including a vignette, would deliver limited safety, congestion, environmental and social benefits. The decision has therefore been taken not to progress a vignette at this time.

“Given this, the Government will not take forward a vignette at this time but will instead focus on improving the UK's enforcement system. To support this and understand better the movement of foreign vehicles within the UK, the Government will refresh the 2003 foreign vehicle data survey.”

The industry has been campaigning for some form of charge to help level the playing field against foreign operators, and to make them pay for using the UK’s roads, since the fuel protests of 2000. Initially the government promised the LRUC, but when that was abandoned in 2005 other schemes were suggested.

However, eight years later and it is no closer to coming with a solution to the problem, giving foreign trucks what the FTA describes as a “free ride” in the UK.