The Secretary of State for Transport has made The Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road and Ferry (Revision of Tolls) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/1288). Made on 9 December 2025 and in force from 30 December 2025, the instrument revises the maximum tolls for the motor road and ferry operated by The Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road & Ferry Company.
The Order is made under section 6(2) and (6) of the Transport Charges &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1954, as modified by the Bournemouth-Swanage local Acts of 1956 and 1986. The Department for Transport states that interested parties were consulted and the statutory local inquiry was held. In deciding to make the Order, the Secretary of State had regard to the company’s financial position and prospects under section 6(3) of the 1954 Act and concluded the revised tolls are likely to be merely adequate to meet expenditure and provide a reasonable return on investment.
Article 3 revises the maximum tolls set out in Tables 1A and 1B of the Schedule. Table 1A specifies single-use fares by vehicle class, while Table 1B sets percentage discounts for bulk tickets and passes, applied to the single fares. These maxima and discount structures take effect from 30 December 2025. The company may, by resolution, charge amounts at or below the maxima.
From April 2026, single-use tolls in Table 1A may be adjusted annually and only in April. Any adjustment is capped at the percentage difference between the United Kingdom All Items Consumer Prices Index for January of the relevant year and the CPI for January 2025, the January immediately preceding the making of the Order. If the CPI is replaced, the successor index applies.
The notice procedure is mandatory. Before exercising the power to change tolls, the company must notify the Secretary of State, and not less than seven days later publish a notice in at least one local newspaper circulating in the ferry area and on the company’s website. The company may charge the tolls set out in the notice from the 28th day after publication, but no adjustment may take effect before the first day of the following April.
Frequency is controlled. A toll for any vehicle or class may not be varied if fewer than twelve months have passed since the previous exercise of the power to amend that toll. This ensures a single annual window rather than multiple in‑year changes.
Financial transparency is linked to toll-setting. The company must make available for inspection at its principal office and publish on its website its annual accounts for the previous accounting period not less than 28 days before any notice of change, and maintain access until after the revision takes effect.
Distributions to shareholders are restricted in order to prioritise the undertaking’s financial resilience. In any twelve‑month period the company may not distribute more than 6% of net asset value, and no distribution is permitted if the Motor Ferry Replacement Reserve is in deficit. The term distribution has the meaning given by section 829 of the Companies Act 2006.
Charging rules for vehicles drawing trailers are clarified. Where a vehicle draws one or more trailers, an additional toll equal to the drawing vehicle’s toll is payable for each trailer. The operating weight of a goods vehicle is determined by section 138(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984; goods vehicle and trailer take their meanings from section 138(3). Passenger vehicle means a vehicle constructed or adapted solely for the carriage of passengers and their effects.
The Order revokes S.I. 2021/854 and supersedes the previous toll levels. It is signed on behalf of the Secretary of State by Samantha Collins-Hill, a Senior Civil Servant at the Department for Transport, on 9 December 2025. For users and local authorities, the practical effect is that any post‑Order price changes can only be implemented from April each year, subject to statutory notice and the 28‑day waiting period.