News

The Chancellor will be told this week that introducing a fuel duty rebate can be done at a third of the original estimated cost to the Treasury. In 2005, the Burns Report cited the cost at around £1bn, but a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on fuel duty differentiation, commissioned by the FTA, has shown that decoupling of truck and car fuel taxes can be achieved for £400m.

The report suggests three possible ways for the government to lower the duty rate on trucks: a fuel-based rebate  centred on fuel purchases the introduction of a separate diesel, 'blue diesel', for use only by CV operators or a mileage-based rebate centred on a fixed rate per mile travelled, which the report claims is the cheapest option to implement. As MT went to press, the FTA was sending the report to the Chancellor and requesting a meeting to talk about the proposals. FTA president Andy Haines was also writing to the Prime Minister, and saying that following last week's fuel protests, the FTA is available to talk about the issue.

Haines is due to address the Scottish parliament on Wednesday to say that although the SNP amendment to the finance bill, to introduce a fuel duty regulator, is welcome, it is not the end of the battle.  James Hookham, FTA director of policy, tells MT: "Stabilisation is important, but the ultimate goal is decoupling. A fuel duty regulator will stop the problem getting worse, but our agenda is to make the whole situation better for industry.

"If  the SNP amendment is successful, the last thing we want is for the government to think 'job done on fuel'." Meanwhile, TransAction met Conservative MPs on Tuesday to discuss the best way forward following last week's fuel protests. Two suggestions were for TransAction to persuade industry-supportive MPs to raise questions in the House of Commons and also to lobby Labour backbenchers.