There has been considerable criticism regarding our financial institutions and their accountability recently. When asking how the credit crunch had been allowed to happen, even the Queen was fobbed off with the excuse that everybody was relying on the next man or thought someone else was checking, scrutinising and asking the relevant questions. It is very worrying that so much information is being generated and decision making taking place about the Congestion Charge without complete transparency.

The actual costings are said to be too sensitive for elected representatives to be party to! Even as recently as last month it was clear that various Congestion Charge decisions are not to be scrutinised. They are considered to be so urgent that delays caused by call-in to check the decision would seriously prejudice the Boards and the public interest.

There are now various new Congestion Charge discounts proposed. The costings of the extra administration and resources to apply discounts weighed against the inevitable fall in revenue were not presented in detail. The cost of means testing the various discount applicants will be enormous! There is even the suggestion that those travelling to various medical establishments will be exempt so long as the centre establish they are suffering from a condition which qualifies under an agreed list of illnesses. I am sure most people would agree that this is not the purpose of the NHS. Surely, this will also impact on the smooth running of the appointments system. Given the problems with Blue Badge scheme fraud, how will misuse of vehicles discounts be policed?

It would be interesting to see what impact all the exemptions now have on the income streams. How do these differ from original costings?  What extra costs are there? What happens if the NHS do not agree to commit their resources to judging patient discount claims? At a time when drugs are being denied to various patients it seems to be a scandalous suggestion.

For every pound not raised by the congestion charge scheme borrowing will have to increase. At a time when interest rates are volatile and we are in recession, nobody can really see what the future will bring. We should be minimising the risks and to date I have seen no evidence that this is being done. Mortgaging our future until 2041 is not appropriate. Financing public transport is the job of Government, Greater Manchester residents should not have to bear this burden.

There has been huge expenditure on the public information and the Yes campaigns. I am sure these monies could have been put to much better use for the public in these difficult times.

Cllr Maureen Walsh
Bramhall North

This article, by Cllr Maureen Walsh, was first published by the Stockport Express 19/11/2008.