Road charging to fuel increase in flexible working

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Increased road taxes and usage charges will trigger a boom in mobile working as companies and employees try to avoid extra costs, said the head of a major computer firm.

Steve Kendall-Smith, the managing director for Fujitsu Siemens Computers' UK operation, predicted that the government's plan to introduce pay-per-mile charging will spur the uptake of flexible working and mobile computing.

"Encouraging more companies to adopt mobile and home working will help to ease congestion and reduce environmental damage," Kendall-Smith said in a statement.

However, he criticised the government's decision to introduce the new tax model, suggesting they should instead offer tax breaks to firms that invest in mobile technology in order to reduce emission.

"By giving companies that invest in mobile technology a tax break, the government can cut the number of people travelling on the UK's roads every day, reduce carbon emissions and encourage the further use of technology by businesses and in the home," Kendall-Smith said. "These positive reasons for embracing mobile working will counterbalance the move to charge motorists for every mile they drive.

Some 1.8 million people signed an online petition against the road tax charge, spurring Prime Minister Tony Blair to write an email in reply saying no decision had yet been made, but adding it would "not be in anyone's interests... to slam the door shut on road pricing."

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