Member Article

Congestion could hit SMEs hard

Small firms could be “taxed out of existence” under new plans for reducing congestion, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has warned. The FPB has urged the Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander MP, to take a broad approach to tackling congestion on the country’s roads. Plans were announced this week for nine areas of the country, including Tyne and Wear and the City of Durham, to help develop plans to tackle congestion and inform the debate on a national road pricing scheme.

The FPB want the government to ensure that measures such as road pricing are introduced to reduce the environmental impact of congestion, not as revenue generating exercises. If national road pricing is introduced, the FPB suggests it should aim to pull traffic away from busy routes. It should not be based on urban – suburban boundaries, like the congestion charge, as this will shift small firms out of urban areas, the business group says.

Nick Goulding, Chief Executive of the FPB, said: “We have seen the consequences for smaller businesses in London with footfall and profitability down and many firms relocating to outside the Congestion Charge zone.” Long term growth in the economy will be severely hampered if smaller firms are taxed out of existence by revenue-generating exercises that are dressed up as green taxes.”

Mr Goulding also believes that small businesses should be involved in discussions concerning the implementation of congestion-cutting measures. “There are lots of innovative small, local firms who can contribute to the process of putting the scheme together. It is important that their voices are heard.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .