Ahead of May 7’s General Election, the UK’s political parties give their views on the issues which will affect fleet operations in the future. Andrew Ryan reports

The UK is just weeks away from the General  Election and the outcome will have a major impact on how fleets operate, whether it is through road investment, health and safety legislation or changes to tax.

Ahead of May 7, the BVRLA, ACFO and Fleet News collaborated on an eight-month project to pull together a diverse range of senior fleet industry representatives to produce a clear and concise set of policy suggestions.

Some of these would have a huge impact on the strategic decisions fleets make – the number and types of vehicle they purchase or hire.

Others could have a dramatic influence on how fleets operate day-to-day – improving road safety, reducing congestion and boosting productivity.

The project culminated in the Fleet Industry Manifesto, which calls on the Government to tackle a number of important issues facing the fleet and lease sector, including tax, red tape, safety and road infrastructure (see wishlist, right).

It was formally launched at the House of Lords in December, where it was presented to MPs representing the three main political parties, including transport minister John Hayes.

Over the next six pages, we look at some of the major issues affecting fleets, based on the Manifesto conclusions, and decipher the views of the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, including road repairs and construction, road pricing, autonomous vehicles and fuel duty.

The three major political parties were also asked about changing the company car tax regime to incorporate pollutants such as NOx and particulate matter, as well as CO2, reporting road collisions involving at-work drivers under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013 and incentivising the uptake of vehicle safety technology , but did not provide any responses to these issues.

We also approached the Green Party, SNP and UKIP, for their views on key areas of transport.

It is worth noting that these are views and not commitments. All parties are due to release their manifestos soon, and these will be covered in a later issue of Fleet News.

Road networks and infrastructure

Spending on British roads has averaged £8.6 billion a year for the past five years (national and local level) but, accounting for inflation, real spending fell 22% between 2008/9 and 2012/13.

In January, RAC Foundation said local authorities estimate the maintenance backlog to be about £12bn, while almost 50,000 drivers made claims against councils across Britain for damage caused by potholes in the last financial year (see page 17 for more).

The Government announced a £15bn plan in December to triple the level of national road spending by 2020 to improve their capacity and condition, plus £10bn on maintenance for local and national roads.

This included investing in more than 100 new road schemes over this parliament and next, 84 of which are new.

These plans were published in the first road investment strategy, which includes £1.5bn to add extra lanes to turn key motorways into smart motorways, boosting connectivity between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Yorkshire.

The Fleet Industry Manifesto believes prevention is better than cure. There are currently too many regional variations between local authorities, in terms of both planning and overall funding levels.

A piecemeal, stop-and-go approach to funding makes it difficult for highways authorities to plan ahead, with too much work carried out retrospectively and not enough preventative activity that saves money in the long-term.

The Manifesto proposes that the Department for Transport should provide guidance to local authorities to help eliminate regional variations in the state of roads across the UK.

What is your view on investing in road infrastructure and maintenance?

Conservatives: Investing in road infrastructure is a vital part of our long-term economic plan to create jobs.

Labour: We recognise the important role the fleet industry plays in enabling economic activity and contributing towards economic growth. If we are to earn our way out of the cost-of-living crisis and pay down the deficit, we need thriving businesses. The central task of the next Labour Government will be to work with business to create the conditions that allow this to happen.

Britain lags behind on delivering major infrastructure. That is why Labour backs Sir John Armitt’s proposal for an independent National Infrastructure Commission, to identify our long-term needs in  transport, establish cross-party consensus on these priorities and ensure governments deliver them.

Labour would also prioritise fixing Britain’s pothole epidemic, working with councils to properly plan maintenance.

Labour will hand £30bn of resources from Whitehall to city and county regions to enable groups of authorities to decide locally on key decisions on infrastructure, including roads and safety measures.

Liberal Democrats: We are leading the renewal of Britain’s ageing  infrastructure, but we have decades of under investment to catch up on. Improving roads is a massive priority for the Liberal Democrats, and Danny Alexander recently announced plans to triple levels of spending by the end of the decade, to increase the capacity and condition of England’s roads.

We have established a fiscal rule so that we can invest in essential infrastructure to enable the economy to grow but this investment must also support economic, environmental and safety goals.

The Road Investment Strategy includes £15bn in the Strategic Road Network to 2020-21. The strategy establishes five designated funds, worth £900m, to address cycling, air quality, innovation and housing.

FleetNews view: A brief response from the Conservatives, but the Government has already outlined its investment plans. More detail from the Lib Dems, but essentially the same as the Coalition-based pledge. Labour’s £30bn appears generous, but will be spread over the course of parliament and, therefore, is only slightly higher than the current Coalition pledge. Labour is also called for a working party to help it decide future policy.

Road safety

Road safety targets were introduced in 1987, and proved to be a successful tool to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on UK roads each year. They were also a useful yardstick for judging progress. The Government announced the abolition of these annual targets in 2010, but there remains a strong consensus within the road safety community that targets can continue to play a key role in reducing deaths and serious injuries. The Manifesto calls for them to be reintroduced.

What is your view on reintroducing government road safety targets?

Conservatives: Overarching national targets don’t do anything to persuade people of the importance of road safety, and can constrain local ambitions and priorities.

We have moved to a more sophisticated method of monitoring processes through a Road Safety Outcomes Framework. We don’t need an arbitrary number to prove our commitment to saving lives.

Labour: Safety is a key concern in transport. Labour will prevent a ‘race to the bottom’ in workplace safety, through proper enforcement of driving, working and duty hours, including investigating the abuse of Working Time Regulations.

Labour has committed to restore targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads. In Government, Labour set proposed targets for casualty and fatality reduction until 2020. Our targets had either been met or on target to be met when Labour left office. There are now almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year than there were in the mid-1990s.

But since road safety targets were axed by the Tories in 2012, progress on reducing deaths and serious injuries has slowed, and three consecutive quarters of worsening figures in 2014 have alarmed road safety experts, campaigners and the police. Labour is committed to restoring road safety as a priority again.

Liberal Democrats: We need to constantly review how we can better protect everyone who uses our busy roads and pavements.

Liberal Democrat councillors have been at the forefront of successful campaigns to make many of our residential streets 20mph zones. On top of this, we have also introduced Trixi mirrors at some busy junctions so that drivers of HGVs can more easily spot cyclists.

FleetNews view: Road safety experts and charities will not be pleased by the Tory response, while the Lib Dems are not much better. Only Labour is promising to reintroduce targets. A vital measurement of progress and a statement of intention, targets also result in accountability and enable the best use of resources.

Road pricing

Fuel duty is responsible for around £25bn of tax revenue per year, but the income from this and other forms of emission-based taxation will reduce as vehicles become greener.

The Manifesto says road pricing is not a new concept, but the advent of cheaper, more advanced technology makes it a simpler solution to this problem.

A national road pricing system could target congestion by imposing higher charges for popular stretches of road at the busiest times, thereby giving some road users the opportunity to amend the times of their driving according to a balance of necessity and cost.

Such a system would need to be a tax-neutral replacement for other fiscal sources of revenue.

What is your view on local or national road pricing?

Conservatives: In Government we’ve been clear that we don’t support national road pricing, and won’t toll existing road capacity.

Labour has no plans to introduce national road pricing or tolls.

Liberal Democrats: We have no plans to introduce national road pricing in the next parliament. However, if local authorities brought forward city centre congestion schemes, we would be prepared to consider them.

FleetNews view: Despite growing support from the fleet sector, which accounts for the majority of road traffic, no one is prepared to even consider national road pricing.

LCV driver licensing

Around one in 10 of all vehicles on the UK’s roads is a van and light commercial vehicle traffic is predicted to rise at twice the rate of cars over the next couple of decades.

The skills required to drive a fully-laden van are considerably more demanding than those required to drive a typical road car.

The Fleet Industry Manifesto proposes that the next Government carry out a consultation to assess the requirement for a new form of intermediate licence to sit between those for cars and HGVs.

What is your view on considering the introduction of a new form of intermediate licence?

Conservatives: Declined to comment on this issue.

Labour: We know there are extensive concerns about the system of mandatory periodic training for professional HGV drivers.

We appreciate the concerns about the need for an additional light commercial vehicle qualification to ensure the many drivers now in control of fully-laden 3.5 tonne vans are properly equipped to do so.

The last Labour Government committed to a major overhaul of the driver training and testing process to create better-prepared and safer drivers.

We will consider calls for reform of the Certificate of Professional Competence, and new LGV licences.

Liberal Democrats: Declined to comment on this issue.

FleetNews view: Labour is the party making the right noises about considering a new form of licence for van drivers and an  overhaul of the entire driver testing process. Conservatives and Lib Dems are surprisingly quiet on this topic, considering the rapid growth in the number of vans on UK roads.

Fuel duty

Fuel duty has been frozen since 2011 and will not rise until at least the end of this parliament in May. The next planned increase is in September. From April 2016 onwards, it is due to rise in line with RPI (retail prices index).

Fuel duty is currently 57.95p per litre for both petrol and diesel, and Government figures show this tax brought in just under £27bn in the 2013/14 tax year.

As of March 2, RAC Foundation figures show the average price of diesel was 116.65p per litre. Of this, the cost of oil, fuel production and supply, and profit margin was 39.26p, fuel duty 57.95p, and VAT 19.44p.

This means fuel duty makes up 50% of the pump price, with VAT 17%. Tax makes up 67% of the cost of fuel.

What is your position on fuel duty?

Conservatives: We’re proud to be freezing fuel duty. Fuel duty is 20p per litre lower than it would have been without our action, meaning that the average family saves £11 every time they fill up their tank.

Labour: Declined to comment.

Liberal Democrats: We want to keep fuel prices fair to help businesses. We scrapped Labour’s fuel duty escalator which increased tax on fuel by inflation plus 1p per litre every year. We introduced a Fair Fuel Stabiliser, making sure that when petrol prices are high, duty never increases above inflation. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander recently wrote to fuel suppliers to remind them that the public expects lower wholesale costs to be reflected in costs faced by motorists. Those selling fuel should play their part too.

FleetNews view: No response from Labour; does this suggest a return to regular tax increases on fuel? Lib Dems appear most committed to a fairer fuel tax system.

Intelligent mobility

Intelligent mobility describes a new range of technologies that have the potential to tackle the key challenges facing road transport such as congestion, emissions and road safety. They include the latest developments in autonomous vehicles and telematics.

Trials of autonomous vehicles have been approved in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich as part of a £19 million programme.

On-road testing will evaluate cars with increasing levels of autonomy, as well as lightweight, fully-autonomous self-driving pods for pedestrianised spaces, passenger shuttle transport systems and autonomous valet parking of adapted cars.

They will also investigate the legal and insurance aspects of driverless cars and explore public reactions.

The Fleet Industry Manifesto calls for the Government to ensure that regulation keeps pace with technological changes and doesn’t stifle innovation and competition.

What is your position on these technologies?

Conservatives: Driverless cars are an exciting new technology and we have cleared the way for tests this summer with the aim of establishing the UK as the global hub for research and development of these vehicles and related technologies. We’re also looking at the potential for telematics technology to reduce accidents among younger people, with the first phase of the research project due to complete in April 2015.

Labour: Driverless vehicles are an exciting development for the transport industry, but at present the technology is in its infancy. As safety for all road users is a priority, Labour will observe closely the testing currently being carried out.

If it proves viable, the new technology has the potential to ensure the UK is at the cutting edge of transport industry developments and lead to advanced manufacturing jobs.

Liberal Democrats: Autonomous technology has huge potential for increasing safety on our roads and many examples already exist, such as automated braking and parking assistance.

We announced £10 million of investment into the research of these technologies last summer, and trials will be in place by summer 2015.

FleetNews view: Similar positions on intelligent mobility and autonomous vehicles have been adopted by all three political parties – they have all spotted the investment opportunities – although Labour is slightly more cautious about driverless cars, casting one eye on safety concerns. No difference in policy.

ULEVs

Until now, Government incentives to boost uptake of plug-in electric vehicles have focused on subsidising the initial price of these cars and vans rather than making them more attractive to drive and operate for a first, second and third owner.

The Manifesto proposes that the reduced company car tax bandings for vehicles with emissions levels under 75g/km CO2 are extended to 2018.

What is your position on using incentives to encourage the take-up of UlEVs?

Conservatives: We’ve already shown strong support for the ultra-low  emission vehicle market, with £500 million made available for the  development of the market up to 2020.

Labour: The expanding global market for ultra-low emission vehicles presents a huge opportunity. Labour is committed to making the UK the most attractive place in the world to invest in green technologies as part of an industrial strategy for the green economy.

Liberal Democrats: We support ambitious EU vehicle emission  standards and, through funding and investment, are encouraging the market for EVs. We will set a target date of 2040, after which only ultra-low-carbon vehicles will be permitted on UK roads for non-freight purposes.

FleetNews view: Tories plan financial incentives; Lib Dems to force ULEVs into market via legislation; a woolley response from Labour with no detail about its commitments.

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