General Election Manifestos: Summarised

This past week has seen the major parties release their manifestos, laying clear their plans for the future of the country. With these documents covering such a large breadth of policy, the BPA has summarised those aspects most relevant to parking and transport management here for your ease.

The Labour Party

Positioned to win the election, Labour’s manifesto is a comprehensive outlining of what is very likely to be the agenda of the next government. Foregrounded in the manifesto as part of their section on economic growth, transport policy  appears to be an area that Labour is approaching with an appreciation of its importance. Their policies include on the matter include:

• The development of a long-term strategy for transport.
• Giving mayors the power to create unified, integrated transport systems.
• Support the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the roll out of charge points.
  • Support buyers of second-hand electric vehicles by standardising the information supplied on the condition of batteries.
• Maintain and renew the road network, fixing an additional one million potholes across England in each year of the next parliament.
• Create a new passenger watchdog, focused on driving up standards.
• Reform the railways, bringing them into public ownership.

There is, however, no mention of a parking code of practice, nor do they mention the low emission zones that have been pushed into the national conversation by Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The Conservative Party

For the Conservatives, motorists are a key part of their concerns, with the Plan for Drivers being explicitly referenced in their manifesto. Their transport plans are folded into a section of their manifesto devoted specifically to communities, making clear the perspective with which they’re approaching transport policy.

Key transport policies of theirs include:

• Investing £8.3 billion into the fill of potholes and resurfacing of roads, funded by the cancellation of the second phase of HS2.
• The roll out of the National Parking Platform in 2024.
• Introduce a ‘Backing Drivers’ Bill that would:
  • Stop road pricing, banning mayors and local councils from introducing pay-per-mile road pricing.
  • Reverse the ULEZ expansion in London.
  • Rule out top-down Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones, introducing a ‘right to challenge’ existing schemes.
• Work with Active Travel England to make it safer for people to walk or cycle, including projects to ensure safe walking routes to schools.

The Conservatives’ perspective on traffic management in their manifesto is a clear extension of current policy, with their promises stemming from their existing approach.

The Liberal Democrats

Often overlooked, polls are suggesting the Liberal Democrats may pick up a sizable number of seats in the coming election, and so their approach to transport may have a noticeable influence over proceedings in the next parliament.

Their transport policies include

• Investment in electric vehicles, clean public transport, and active travel.
• Roll out more EV charging points, reintroduce the plug-in car grant, and restore the requirement that every new car and small van sold from 2030 onwards is zero-emission.
  • They also plan to cut VAT on public charging to 5% and require all charging points to be accessible with a bank card.
• Freeze rail fares and simplify ticketing.
• Transform how people travel by creating new cycling and walking networks with a new nationwide active travel strategy.
• Give more of the roads budget to local councils to maintain existing roads, pavements and cycleways, including the repair of potholes.
• Devolve greater decision-making powers and resources to local authorities in England to design transport infrastructure around community needs.

The Green Party

The Green Party is known for its dedication to sustainable methods of action, and their manifesto commitments regarding travel mark a further commitment to this:

• Increase annual public subsidies for rail and bus travel to £10 billion by the end of the next parliament, with free bus travel for under-18s.
• Support the rapid roll-out of EV charging points.
• Bring the railways back into public ownership.
• Invest £2.5 billion a year into new cycleways and footpaths.
• Adopt Active Travel England’s objective of 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities to be walked, wheeled, or cycled by 2030.
• A ban on domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train.
• A halt on the expansion of new airport capacity.

Reform UK

The Reform Party emphasises that it is on the side of motorists, a claim also made by Labour and the Conservatives, positioning themselves as against overzealous government action in regards to transport.

Their transport policies include:

• Stopping the ‘War on Motorists’ – placed as one of their most critical reforms, they say they will ban all ULEZ and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
• Scrapping bans on selling petrol and diesel cars and removing any legal requirements for manufacturers to sell electric cars.
• Launch a new model of ownership, bringing 50% of each utility into public ownership with the other 50% being owned by UK pension funds.
• Launch a national database for councils, contractors, government and utilities to ensure coordination of projects.

Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru has a variety of bold transport policies, including:

• Wales receiving the £4bn of transport funding to which it is entitled under the Barnett Formula for money spent by the UK Government on HS2, an England-only project.
• The nationalisation of public transport services.
• A review of the subsidy cuts that have reduced bus services in Wales.
• An investigation into the creation of Young Person's Bus Pass
• Investment in active travel routes, and support for the creation of clear air zones near major centres of population.

The SNP

The most recent to reveal their manifesto, the SNP also has a host of important offerings in regards to transport, such as:

• Transfer full powers for complete integration of track and train to Scotland – a fully devolved railway, including full ownership and powers over Network Rail Scotland. 
• Promote a fair and affordable transition to zero-emission transport fuels, and ban the sale of new, non zero-emission buses by 2025. 
• Strengthen incentives to purchase cleaner vehicles.
  • The government should establish a new Low Income EV Car Leasing Fund, backed up by £500 million at least.
• Invest in safer roads.

In summary, low emission zones and electric vehicles appear to be the main points of contention in regards to policy impacting motorists, with every party making some reference to one of these two in their manifestos at some point.