A hardship fund has been introduced for motorists who can’t afford to pay their Tyne Tunnel fines a top North Tyneside councillor has revealed.
Coun Carl Johnson revealed that a fund had been agreed by tunnel bosses when he was speaking at Thursday’s full council meeting.
The deputy mayor was responding to a Conservative group motion calling for reform to the beleaguered cashless system.
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The crossing made the switch to a cashless ‘free flow’ model last November, meaning drivers can no longer pay at the tunnels’ traditional toll plazas using cash or a bank card – and must instead use either a pre-paid account or pay online afterwards.
The change has come into force in a bid to reduce journey times and cut pollution, but has sparked a major backlash from users complaining it has been littered with errors that have resulted in people being incorrectly slapped with heavy fines and pursued by bailiffs.
Almost 11,000 people have put their name to a petition demanding a rethink, including slashing the cost of penalties for non-payment and increasing the length of time people have to pay their toll fee.
The petition, started by Gary Spedding, calls for an “ethical system” that would “ensure penalty charges are not being used to harm ordinary working class individuals and families.
The unsuccessful motion asked the authority to call tunnel operator TT2 Limited to cancel all unpaid toll charges issued in the last six months prior to January 1 2022.
Proposing the motion Conservative Coun Liam Bones pointed out that the petition was started by a Labour member.
He said: “I’m sure that members across the chamber will agree that whatever the good intentions of Tyne Tunnel bosses the system has been poorly implemented with a unfair fines structure and malfunctions at every turn.
“This shouldn’t be a partly political issue, after all the petition has been set up by a Labour activist and supported by the Labour MP for South Shields in the House of Commons.”
The operator would also be asked to increase the time period for which to ‘pay later’ from 48 hours to five working days.
TT2 would also be told to “engage in a concerted advertising campaign to ensure people are fully aware of how the Tyne Tunnel now works and encourage frequent travellers to sign up for a pre-paid account.”
The Tories also wanted North Tyneside Council to tell tunnel bosses to scrap the current penalty charge system and replace it with a “more ethical structure.”
As things stand motorists who fail to pay the toll are issued with a £60 charge, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days or increased to £100 if not settled within 28 days.
The Conservatives say that those who miss their deadline to pay should receive an initial fine of no more than £20, which should be reduced to £5.00 if paid within 14 days of the date the fine was generated.
Finally, the motion wanted TT2 to review its appeals process and “produce clear guidance that is publicly available on what the policies of TT2 Limited are in relation to travel through the tunnel, what the toll prices are, and the penalty charge procedures. Ensuring that each individual case is considered carefully and with sensitivity.”
But, the motion was voted down 28 to nine by the Labour dominated authority.
Coun Johnson: admitted that there had “absolutely been issues” with the roll out of the system, but said it was the right decision for the area.
He said: “At a Joint Transport committee [meeting] that I chaired last week we found out 600 people had been incorrectly fined during the first month.
“We swiftly contacted all those people to make sure they are refunded.
“The principle of the barrier-free tolling system is absolutely correct and is already having major benefits for our borough.
“We all know the plazas were in our borough which were causing lots of congestion that area has had its carbon emissions reduced by about 90%.”
Coun Johnson told councillors that forgiving six months of unpaid charges would leave the tunnel vulnerable to legal action.
He also pointed out that motorists have 48 hours, until midnight the day after, to pay their fee.
Coun Johnson said that hardship fund had been set up to help cash-strapped drivers, and that the minimum pre-paid top up has been reduced from 10 to five pounds.
He added: “The penalty charge system was agreed with the Conservative secretary of state, they agreed that the level of penalty was fair. We should absolutely introduce a hardship fund.
“What this hardship fund is that anyone who goes through the tunnel and gets a penalty and can’t afford to pay will get that fine written off if they can show it will cause them financial hardship.
“We ensure that all cases are reviewed carefully and sensitively. A number of first time offenders have had fines removed.”
