This page sets out the programme for consultation around proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details for crossing the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges.
Consultation started on 4 November 2024 and will close on Monday 16 December 2024.
Halton Borough Council and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board welcome responses from all interested parties.
- Financial background
- Proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details
- Responding to the consultation
- Next steps
Financial background
Halton Borough Council is responsible for funding the Mersey Gateway Project in line with the funding agreement it has in place with central government.
It does this through setting the toll charges and rules relating to crossings made on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges.
The project is financed through a Public Private Partnership until 2044. Under the terms of this arrangement the payments to the private sector partners responsible for design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance of the Mersey Gateway project are index linked and increase from the 1st April every year. To allow for this increase it was forecast that toll charges would increase in line with inflation every year, and had this been implemented, this would have seen the toll charge for Class 2 vehicles rising from £2.00 in 2017 to more than £2.80 in 2024.
In line with the Government forecast at the time, an inflationary increase of 20% was anticipated in the first seven years of the project and built into the financial forecasts. However, cumulative inflation (based on Retail Price Index) over the past seven years has actually been 40% as shown in the table below.
To date it has been possible for the project to absorb the inflationary increase in costs. However, following the exceptionally high level of inflation between 2021 and 2023, the project now needs to raise additional revenue to meet the forecast expenditure going forward.
The revenue is obtained from a mixture of Government grants and toll income from users. With no additional support available from the Government, there is no envisaged alternative but to increase the toll charges, which is why there is no option for keeping them at the current level or implementing a smaller increase set out in the consultation.
If you would like more background information around the project finances, you can download the project’s income and expenditure summary over the first seven years of its operation or read our Project Finances page for more details.
Cumulative inflation – RPI increases since 2017
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative RPI inflation % increase since 2017 | 3.3% | 5.8% | 7.0% | 12.2% | 26.4% | 37.5% | 41.3% |
| In year inflation % increase annually | 3.3% | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4.9% | 12.6% | 8.9% | 2.7% |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge once adjusted for cumulative inflation | £2.07 | £2.12 | £2.14 | £2.24 | £2.53 | £2.75 | £2.83 |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge under proposed approach | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2.40 |
Proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details
Halton Borough Council and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board are consulting around proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details for crossing the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges.
The proposed changes, which could take place from 1 April 2025, include:
- An increase in toll charges by approximately 20%
- An increase of £2 in the annual cost of a Local User Discount Scheme plan for those not using auto renewal
- An increase in Penalty Charge Notices from £40 to £50
The proposed increase would:
- be the first in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened
- mean toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate – which has already reached 40% – since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017.
The consultation also sets out and asks for views on a proposed timetable for future changes to toll charges and asks for feedback on what incentives would encourage people to open an account with tolling operator merseyflow.
We are not consulting on the principle of toll charges. This was settled at the public inquiry held for the Mersey Gateway Project in 2009 and was then incorporated into the 2011 Order.
Attached are two documents which may help you prepare your response before you decide to start inputting answers into the online survey:
- The draft Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges RUCSO 2025 – this is the draft legal Order which Halton Borough Council would need to approve and which would come into force – incorporating any amendments – following this consultation
- Consultation questions – Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges RUCSO 2025
Responding to the consultation
The views of all parties who use the bridges or have an interest in the long-term future of Halton and the wider region are important to us, and this is your opportunity to participate in this consultation.
You can:
- respond to this consultation online
- request and complete a printed questionnaire by visiting one of Halton Council’s Halton Direct Links in Widnes / Runcorn or merseyflow’s Walk-In Centre in Manor Park, Runcorn and asking staff for a printed Mersey Gateway consultation questionnaire
- download a copy of the questionnaire and return it to the address below.
You can either hand in your completed questionnaire to the Halton Direct Link or merseyflow Walk-In Centre staff teams or post it to Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, c/o Halton Direct Link, Brook Street, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 6NB.
If you require this information in an alternative format then please contact Halton Borough Council on 0303 333 4300.
The consultation is live until 11:59pm on Monday 16 December. Please respond to the consultation through this survey link to ensure your views are considered.
Our official tolling operator merseyflow is contacting all registered customers over the coming days and weeks to inform customers of the consultation and invite them to respond. The Mersey Gateway Crossings Board is also contacting a wide range of stakeholders for their views.
Next steps
Halton Borough Council and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board will consider consultee feedback, alongside the financial requirements for the project, before making final decisions about next steps.
- All decisions about future toll charges and any associated changes will be made at a full meeting of Halton Borough Council.
- This meeting is expected to take place in late January / early February of 2025.
- Our anticipation is that any changes to toll charges will take effect from 1 April 2025.
- A consultation summary report will be published ahead of this meeting.
If you wish to provide feedback on the proposals outlined here the best way to do so is to respond to the consultation.
However, if you wish to contact us about another issue relating to the consultation please email consultation@merseygateway.co.uk.
If you have a more general enquiry relating to the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board please email enquiries@merseygateway.co.uk.