Road tolls cameras may help to catch tax dodgers

EDINBURGH’S controversial congestion charge cameras could be used to catch car tax dodgers under plans by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Civil liberties groups and opponents of the scheme have reacted with anger to the proposal, saying it would amount to unacceptable snooping into private lives.

Residents in Edinburgh will vote in a referendum next month on whether to accept the council’s road tolls plans.

The council has said the cameras will only be used to operate the traffic congestion charge in the city centre, but the DVLA said it wants to expand their use in the future to allow it to track motorists who have not paid their vehicle excise tax.

The DVLA’s hopes of using the cameras to catch tax dodgers have not been made public before, and opponents say it could sway next month’s vote against the scheme.

DVLA project manager Jeff Mumford, whose team has liaised with the council about its plans for congestion cameras, insisted his organisation had made the city aware it would like to expand the use of the cameras in the future to catch vehicle tax dodgers.

Rosemarie McIlwhain, director of the Scottish Human Rights Centre, said of the plans: "This is a good example of government getting more Draconian powers through the back door."

Iain Whyte, the leader of the Conservative group on Edinburgh City Council, said: "It may well affect [the referendum] because the implication is, if you can re-register the cameras for this, you can re- register them for anything."

Scotland on Sunday is sponsoring a conference on congestion charging on January 17 at the Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh. London mayor Ken Livingstone will be among the speakers.