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Local Transport Bill [HL]

We share the noble Lord’s concerns and interests and I am grateful for his explanation of the amendment. Our overriding concern is to ensure that we have consistency across local pricing schemes to minimise confusion for users. Section 198(3) of the Transport Act 2000 already allows the class of motor vehicle to be defined or described in regulations made by the appropriate national authority. This power applies to any scheme under that Act. There are already regulations on vehicle classification made under this provision for the purposes of the Dartford Crossing regulatory charge, which the noble Lord will know all about since it strays into Essex. As local authorities bring forward their own local charging schemes, we will want to review these regulations to ensure that they are appropriate. As part of this we will need to consider work emerging on the European electronic tolling service and ensure that our approach is compatible. It is hoped that this will secure the necessary consistency. I am not sure whether that answers all the noble Lord’s points but I am happy to answer further questions.