Road pricing - Good or bad news?

The Government has commissioned a report about the feasibility of road pricing which is due to be published today.

Speculation is that the report, written by the former head of British Airways, Sir Rod Eddington, will recommend a considerable extension of road pricing. You can read the full BBC report on the issue here.

Apparently his recommendation is a considerable increase in road pricing schemes, essentially schemes whereby you would be charged to drive on certain roads, the cost being dependent upon the mileage covered and the time of day travelled.

It's suggested this would raise some £28 billion which could then be spent on public transport schemes including a new high speed link between Scotland and London and the expansion of key airports.

There are a number of points about these proposals, if the speculation is correct, that bother me greatly.

Firstly, much of the congestion on the roads occurs in the South and the Midlands and in particular in and around our major employment centres. Government policy is already pushing the expansion of these towns and cities through housebuilding and planning guidelines. Wouldn't any money raised be better spent on improving public transport links in, out and around these locations?

Secondly, why an expansion of airports? One week we are being told that cheap air travel is environmentally harmful and should be curtailed through higher taxation either of air travellers or removal of the lower rate of tax on aircraft fuel enjoyed by airlines. Again, the congestion comes at a local level, regional or international air travel won't remove this. I've yet to travel to or from an airport which doesn't appear to attract an increased amount of road traffic in relation to its surrounding.

Finally, I fundamentally have a problem with the principle of furthering taxation (for this is what road pricing would be) without the removal of tax burdens elsewhere. Too often it appears that we're told the only way to change our behaviour is to levy a financial charge. Under this government that's been a cover for just increasing the tax burden by stealth.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, recently spoke of introducing taxation to encourage businesses to reduce their carbon emissions. He pledged to use this income to reduce the tax burden on business elsewhere however. That's a principle I'd like us to follow in this case too.