An exchange from the House of Commons:
Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley, Labour): On a point of order, Mr Speaker, has anybody asked you for a statement on the failure of the Greater Manchester congestion charge, which affects not only the north-west but many other areas that want to bring in such a scheme? Has anyone brought that subject to your attention, and may we have a statement?
Michael Martin (Speaker): No one has brought that matter to my attention apart from the honourable gentleman through his point of order.
There has been a deathly silence so far from the government on Greater Manchester’s congestion charge referendum – and what will happen next.
The suspicion has to be that ministers are being silent because precisely nothing will happen next.
Greater Manchester’s pro-TIF-bid leaders will lick their wounds and get back to lobbying for more “no-strings” money – with no greater prospect of success than regional rivals like Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds.
The government will just carry on with TIF for now – and, if no councils come forward with congestion-charging schemes, the money will eventually be taken off the table.
Perhaps we will learn a bit more about the government’s intentions tomorrow. Angie Robinson, chief executive of Greater Manchester Chamber, is meeting Geoff Hoon as part of a British chambers delegation.
“The meeting is very timely,” she said. “The results of last week’s referendum echoed the strong opposition from businesses to the congestion charging element of the plans. Politicians tell us this was the only offer on the table, so the current proposals will not go ahead. However, business is still concerned about congestion which has a negative cost to them and most people, including business, want to see public transport improve.
“The question is now, how can that happen? What options can politicians and business come up with to address the needs of the city region in the future? These are all questions I am intending to raise with Mr Hoon.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under Congestion charge, Transport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.