Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls
Transport
Written answers and statements, 5 November 2009
David Amess (Southend West, Conservative)
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what criteria are used to determine the eligibility to register for the local residents scheme for the Dartford Crossing; what recent representations he has received supporting a change in such criteria; and if he will make a statement.
Sadiq Khan (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Tooting, Labour)
The eligibility criteria for the local discount scheme are that applicants should be residents of the local authorities of Dartford or Thurrock. It was decided that the Dartford and Thurrock local authorities should be eligible as these areas are most affected by the Dartford Crossing. Our decision also reflected the factors which underpinned the reasons behind the previous regime, whereby a proportion of revenues from the crossing was made available to deliver integrated transport policies in the Dartford and Thurrock areas.
The Department for Transport and the Highways Agency have within the last six months received 12 representations requesting a change to these criteria.