Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what has been (1) the loss of annual revenue and (2) the savings of administrative cost arising from the abolishing of the Severn Crossing toll.

The Government has not made any estimate of what revenues or administrative costs would have been if tolling had continued at the Severn Crossings after 2018.

The power to levy tolls at the Severn Crossings expired on 7 January 2018 when the private sector concession operated by Severn River Crossing plc ended. During the concession, the Government received no income from tolls and did not incur any costs relating to the administration of the toll, except for a short period from 2 November 2017 to the end of the concession, when toll income was paid to the Secretary of State.

A road user charge under the Transport Act 2000 operated from 8 January to 16 December 2018 inclusive, with drivers charged reduced rates compared to the previous toll. In the 357-day period from 8 January to 31 December 2018, income from the charge was £96.2 million and expenditure was £18.7 million, of which £3.85 million related to the costs of removing toll collection infrastructure, with the remainder covering operating and maintenance costs.