The announcement of borrowing powers for the Welsh Government earlier this month appears to have put paid to any idea of future Severn Crossing tolls being used to fund road improvements – and quite right too.

The Federation of Small Businesses Wales has long been concerned about the impact of the tolls on businesses in south east Wales.

But you don’t have to ask our members in South East Wales to gauge the impact that they have on the local economy. A report produced for the Assembly by consultants Arup last year suggested that if the bridge tolls were abolished it could boost economic output in Wales by £107m.

That is why we are keen to see the Severn crossings pass to the control of the Welsh Government when the current contract comes to an end. We would then hope to see tolls reduced to the level needed to maintain the crossings and no more, providing a welcome boost to small businesses in South East Wales.

Thankfully that position now appears to be shared by the First Minister. We were so concerned at the notion that tolls were being dragged into the debate about an M4 relief road that we wrote to both Carwyn Jones and the Secretary of State for Wales David Jones.

In his response to us the First Minister said: “Were the Welsh Government to be given responsibility for the Crossings and the powers to set the tolls, our first priority would clearly be to ensure the effective maintenance and operation of the Severn crossings. After that, we would look to reduce the toll levels paid by users of the Crossings and alleviate the burden on the economy.”

We are very heartened that the First Minister has set out his position on this in black and white. It is an eminently sensible approach, and one previously advocated by the all-party Welsh Affairs Select Committee which called for tolls to be cut “at the earliest possible opportunity” and suggested that the toll could be cut by around 80% if it were to cover the maintenance costs.

However, we are going to have to wait until beyond 2018 for a time when the bridge could pass into the hands of the Welsh Government. Then at last hopefully road users will not have to shoulder the burden of paying for crossings that really should be a national asset.