Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse per motor vehicle crossing the Severn Bridges in the most recent year for which figures are available.

The Government has not made such an estimate, but the cost to the public purse is very small, since the large majority of the costs of the Severn Crossings, relating to building, maintenance and operations, have been borne by Severn River Crossings Plc. Over the concession period £63m of costs directly relating to the Severn Crossings have been incurred by the Government. The Government will recoup these costs through tolling after the end of the concession.

With regard to the cost of tolls for the motorist crossing the Severn Bridges, which have not reduced since they started in their current form in 1992, in the March 2015 Budget the Chancellor announced that the government will, once the Severn River Crossings are in public ownership, which is expected to be 2018, abolish Category 2 (small goods vehicles and small buses) and include those vehicles in Category 1 (motor cars and motor caravans), therefore reducing the toll paid by small goods vehicles and small buses. Furthermore, the Chancellor announced in the 2016 Budget that, subject to public consultation, the government will halve tolls on the Severn River Crossings once the Crossings are in public ownership.