Congestion charges
Ken Livingstone has asked Transport for
The earliest the proposed change could be introduced would be July next year.
Party Response: Conservative
Tim Yeo, shadow transport secretary, said: "Ken Livingstone’s plan to increase the congestion charge will hit businesses hard and hurt those who still travel in
"Perhaps if he was a bit more efficient at collecting the charge, Londoners would not now have to cough up even more to get to work."
Party Response: Liberal Democrats
Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson and chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee said:"This price hike has nothing to do with reducing congestion but everything to do with raising a bob-or-two.
"This large rise in the Congestion Charge is the price Londoners will have to pay for the Mayor’s decision to extend the charging zone westwards into Kensington and Chelsea. His stubborn refusal to listen to reason lands us with a scheme that is bound to run at a loss with the £8 charge brought in to cover it.
"The £8 charge will only be acceptable to Londoners if the Mayor gives us a better deal for it. It is time the Mayor stopped clobbering motorists who intend to pay the charge but miss the
"The theatre and entertainments industry badly need the Congestion Charge to end at
Stakeholder Response: Forum of Private Business
Nick Goulding, Forum of Private Business chief executive, said: "Our members are telling us loud and clear that congestion charging is having a devastating effect on trade.
"Any increase in the charge or extension to the zone will only increase that pain. Business owners fundamentally resent the fact that their hard work, for many of them a lifetime's work, is being fatally undermined by an unwanted and unnecessary stealth tax."
Stakeholder Response: British Retail Consortium
Luke Mayhew, chairman of the of the
"These proposals are premature and threaten the stability of long term trade within the capital. A longer trial period is needed to obtain a clearer picture of the effect that the charge is having on our capital.
"We strongly urge the mayor to approach any congestion charge increases with caution, as any environmental and economic benefits could be undermined if congestion charging encouraged more people to drive to out of town centres not supported by public transport.
"Retailers are already penalised by unfair and inflexible delivery curfews which exist in areas already covered by congestion charging. Any proposal to increase the daily charge serves only to add to the burden of additional operational costs."
Stakeholder Response: Construction Products Association
Jean Emblin, external affairs director, Construction Products Association said: "A further increase on the congestion charge is only going to push up even more the cost of supplying the Congestion Charging Zone (CCZ).
"We undertook a survey of contractors, and manufacturers and suppliers of construction products last year. The survey showed that an overwhelming 85 per cent of respondents believed that commercial delivery vehicles servicing
"Further results indicated that only 10 per cent of those surveyed believed that the charge should be extended to cover a wider geographical area, whilst 75 per cent did not believe that that the idea should be extended to other cities in the country."
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