Exclusive:Charging motorists to drive in Edinburgh 'should be considered' - council chief

Charging motorists to drive in Edinburgh should be considered again, 20 years after it was resoundingly defeated, the city’s transport chief has said.

Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson told a public meeting: "It's something that should be on the table for discussion.”

A £2 a day congestion charge in Edinburgh was rejected in 2005 | Archive

However, the city council’s transport convener admitted such a scheme would be “challenging” and called for Scottish Government support.

The move came a week after Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop confirmed the SNP Government’s target of reducing traffic by 20 per cent by 2030 was “unachievable”. Edinburgh still wants to cut its traffic by 30 per cent by then.

Mr Jenkinson, asked about charging at a meeting organised by the Lothian cycle campaign Spokes, said: "Is it something we should consider looking at? I think we should.

“I think it's going to be challenging. We really need the Scottish Government to help us.”

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However, he said a charging scheme would be better introduced more widely than just in the capital.

Mr Jenkinson said: "Edinburgh going alone on road user charging, even if we had the power to do so, would probably be sub optimal.

"It would at least need to be a regional approach and probably more successful as national."

Deborah Paton, the city council official in charge of transport, told the meeting the Scottish Government should take the lead - and the council did not yet have the full powers it needed.

She said: "The legislation is not complete and Transport Scotland are charged with doing a regulatory review, so we really have to wait for that.

"It would be more equitable if Transport Scotland looked at this on a national basis.

"Leaving it to local authorities to do it on a local level is a real struggle and potentially a little bit divisive."

Mr Jenkinson told The Scotsman later that consideration of charging was “a long way from this point”.

He added: “We’re in a position where the Scottish Government expects individual local authorities to take the lead on this with no increase in funding to develop schemes.”

The council’s City Mobility Plan includes a “pay as you drive” scheme to encourage drivers to switch to “sustainable modes of travel” and reduce congestion, which it said “could be explored”.

It said drivers paying to use “certain roads...reduces the number of cars in a city through economic disincentives and by encouraging drivers to switch to public transport, walking/wheeling and cycling.

“Revenue generated from pay as you drive schemes can be used to improve sustainable travel modes.”

The council planned a £2 a day congestion charge to drive into Edinburgh in 2005 but it was rejected by 74 per cent of voters in a local referendum.

The Scottish Conservatives, which led a Holyrood debate on Wednesday to “end the war against Scotland’s motorists”, denounced road charging.

Transport spokesperson Sue Webber said: “It’s ludicrous this Scottish Labour councillor is calling for motorists to be charged to drive in the city.

“It confirms he is out of touch from the people he represents in south west Edinburgh.

“This is yet another proposal to use motorists as a cash cow by a council that’s had their budget repeatedly slashed by the SNP.

“Holyrood’s cosy left-wing consensus simply don’t get it when it comes to understanding how vital motorists are for Scotland’s economy.

“Rather than looking for ways to punish them, Labour-led Edinburgh Council should focus on delivering improvements that encourage drivers to reduce their car usage.”

However, Scottish Greens transport spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “Road user charging schemes are one way to dramatically increase investment to make public transport more punctual, reliable and affordable, and changes to make streets safer.

“We seriously need to reduce car congestion misery on our roads. In our busiest cities and towns, it should be an obvious choice to walk, wheel, cycle or take public transport, but too often congestion is holding back buses and making our streets unsafe.

“Across Europe, these schemes already exist to help tackle congestion and pollution and they are driving a transformational improvement in public transport. We need them here.”

Dave du Feu, of Spokes, who raised the issue at the meeting, said the Scottish Government’s own research showed its traffic reduction target was achievable through charging.

He said: “It was good to hear Mr Jenkinson will press the Scottish Government for changes to make charging a feasible option for councils.”

A spokesperson for Transport Scotland, which previously considered charging, said: “We have no plans to introduce national road pricing.

“The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 already provides a discretionary power for local authorities to implement local road user charging schemes.”

The agency confirmed a regulatory check of these powers to ensure they remained fit for purpose after being introduced 20 years ago had not been carried out.

It added: “We are aware that additional secondary legislation may be required to support enforcement of such schemes.

“Local authorities are best placed to decide whether to use these powers and we would expect any local authority seeking to introduce such a scheme locally to consult widely and assess all the impacts before making such a decision.”