By Steve Bargeton, political editor

TOLLS ON the Forth and Tay bridges should be abolished by the end of this year—possibly even sooner on the Tay—ministers confirmed yesterday.

MSPs voted overwhelmingly to back The Courier campaign to scrap the tolls by 120 votes with none against and two abstentions.

The amended motion also urged the Executive not to “arbitrarily” delay or cancel proposals for a rail link to Edinburgh airport and trams for the capital.

SNP finance secretary John Swinney told MSPs, “Our expectation is that the legislation will be able to be passed by Parliament, subject to the consent of Parliament, before the turn of the year.

“That is a commitment we will work with great diligence to deliver.”

In a debate on the tolls, transport minister Stewart Stevenson told MSPs that scrapping the tolls was long overdue.

“It is the government’s view that the tolls for users of the Forth and Tay road bridges should have been abolished once the tolls were lifted from the Erskine Bridge in March 2006.

“But in any event this is the elimination of 40 years of injustice which stems from the original decision to charge tolls when these crossings opened for business in the 1960s.”

The minister outlined the timetable for ending the tolls.

As a matter of urgency the Executive will begin talks with the two bridge authorities— the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) and the Tay Bridge Joint Board.

It is envisaged both organisations will continue to exist after the tolls have been abolished.

FETA and the Tay Bridge Joint Board are expected to remain as road authorities, traffic authorities and retain their responsibilities for the maintenance of the structures.

When MSPs return from the summer recess in September, an Executive Bill to abolish the tolls will be introduced to Parliament where is it certain to get overwhelming support.

Ministers are also exploring ways of lifting tolls on the Tay sooner if the legislation allows and if appropriate funding arrangements can be agreed.

Explaining why legislation was necessary, Mr Stevenson said, “The main enabling legislation is the Forth Road Bridge Order Confirmation Acts 1947, 1958 and 1961.

“This provides that the joint board shall demand, take and recover tolls, as set out in an approved schedule of tolls.

“It is not considered legally sound to simply attempt to amend the various orders for tolling on the Forth Road Bridge.”

However, it is understood that the legal position regarding the Tay could be different, leaving open the possibility of the tolls there being suspended until the legislation goes through.

The Executive plan is to replace the tolls income with income from the Executive.

The financial cost, capital and current, of removing the bridge tolls will be considered in the forthcoming spending review.

The toll income from the two bridges in total is between £15 million and £16 million a year.

Mr Stevenson added, “In effect the income from the tolls will be replaced by the same income, but that income will be provided by the government, not by the residents and businesses of Fife and its surrounding area.”

During the debate, North East Fife MSP Iain Smith voiced his support for the abolition of the Tay Road Bridge tolls.

He said, “I was pleased to convince the Liberal Democrats to include the abolition of Tay Road Bridge tolls in our manifesto for this year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

“It was one of my personal priorities for North East Fife in the election campaign and I thank the voters of North East Fife for again giving me their trust to deliver these priorities.

“The burden of the tolls has fallen most heavily on my constituents. Frankly we have paid enough and it is time for these tolls to go and to go now.”

Jim Tolson, the newly-elected Lib Dem MSP for Dunfermline West, said Scotland deserved a world-class transport network to ensure a vibrant economy. It was vital the government improved transport links to Edinburgh Airport and tackled projects such as the full dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.

But, he added, “Much closer to home (and my constituency) is the absolute highest priority for Scottish transport, a replacement for the Forth Road Bridge!

“The economy and infrastructure of Fife, Tayside and beyond would be absolutely devastated if a viable new crossing is not in place before the bridge has to close to vehicular traffic.

“Fortunately, the last government did give a commitment to a new Forth crossing. I sincerely hope this government will proceed with this crucial venture without any delay.

“I would urge the government to accept the professional advice on a future crossing due to be published next month, whether it is for a tunnel or a bridge, and get on and provide it before restrictions from the dying Forth Road Bridge devastate the economy of east central Scotland.”

Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said his party backed the removal of tolls from the two bridges.

But Tricia Marwick,, SNP MSP for Central Fife, asked why opposition MSPs had linked their support for the abolition of tolls to the Edinburgh trams and airport rail link projects.

Mr Johnstone told her, “We supported you then because you were right. We support you today in principle because you are also right.”

But he added, “There are issues that have become clear during the build-up to this debate which have to be covered by the subject of the debate today.”

While he said the Tories wanted to see the trams and rail link proposals go ahead, Mr Johnstone added, “The Conservatives are supporting these schemes but we’re not handing out any blank cheques.

“We are concerned to ensure there is proper evaluation of these and any other project that goes into the transport programme.”

With a new crossing required to replace the Forth Road Bridge, he argued that tolls should not be ruled out as a means of funding that.

He told MSPs, “While it is a good thing we are ending the rigours of tolls to our economy, we should not dismiss the opportunity we may be given to use the tolling system in partly or wholly financing any new crossing.

“While there are alternative ways that the crossing could be funded, I think we need to keep an open mind at this point to ensure that the new crossing can be achieved as early and as cost-effectively as possible.”

The SNP’s new MSP for Ochil, Keith Brown, used his maiden speech to reveal he has a conviction for non-payment of the Skye Bridge tolls in the mid-1990s—and has yet to pay the fine.

“It would be nice if the Lord Advocate could give some consideration to quashing that conviction and those of others who opposed that disgraceful toll,” he said. “I suppose she could just as easily come after me for the £50 fine I’ve not paid for the last 12 years.”

Mr Brown said one of the most compelling reasons for the abolition of the tolls on the Forth was that the reason given for their introduction was to pay off the capital costs.

“As I understand it, the capital costs of the bridge were paid off in 1994,” he said.

He said they were kept on presumably as “a nice revenue stream” for the government.

“In the process another promise to the electorate was shelved.”

The Lib Dems’ transport spokeswoman Alison McInnes stressed the importance of measures to combat congestion in Edinburgh. She said trams and the airport rail link would both help to reduce the number of cars on the capital’s roads.

“That’s why it is so important we consider trams and tolls in tandem,” said the MSP for North East Scotland.

“We need an integrated transport system for our capital city. While bridge tolls became an issue for many during the election campaign, especially in Fife, for the Scottish Liberal Democrats our priority is to keep Scotland moving.”

Ms McInnes, who was making her maiden speech at Holyrood, also warned of the consequences of axing the trams scheme.

She said the financial consequences of making such a decision at this late stage would be £114 million.

And she continued, “Business leaders in the city believe halting the project would undermine economic growth and inward investment and it threatens other infrastructure proposals which were predicated on the trams going ahead.”

She told MSPs that the government had been given a clear message yesterday—that there was no support in Parliament for halting the trams and rail link.

She told the transport minister, “It would be better if the government acknowledged the majority of this chamber is in favour of the trams and airport rail link and agreed today to allow these schemes to continue as planned.”