AN INFLUENTIAL Labour-dominated select committee has savaged the Government's plans for integrated transport, branding them 'under-funded and inadequate' and proposed even more swingeing taxes for fleets. The environment, transport and regional affairs select committee has set itself is for some of the most unpopular charges proposed in John Prescott's White Paper on integrated transport to be extended.

Wider-ranging taxes would include making company parking spaces a benefit-in-kind, extending congestion charging to areas surrounding out-of-town shopping centres, giving more road space to alternative transport and imposing severe fines on motorists who use bus lanes, wider use of speed cameras and more investment in policing the roads.

The robust measures would address what the committee sees as areas of weakness in Prescott's proposals. 'There was a serious concern that the measures put forward, while a welcome start, would be far from sufficient. The evidence pointed to a number of key areas where fundamental changes were needed and where the White Paper's proposals were considered inadequate.'