RAC head of external affairs Peter Williams said: “We welcome the
news that the Chancellor will freeze duty again this year. He has
listened to motorists and business owners who are struggling with
higher prices at the pumps. Drivers already contribute more than
£27bn a year to the Treasury from fuel duty receipts, and we’d
have liked to see the Chancellor commit to no further rises this
Parliament. Perhaps he should now consider doing away with the
threat of the fuel duty escalator - that looms over private
drivers and businesses before every annual Budget – for good.
“Since January 2016, a litre of petrol is an average of 18p more
expensive, and this is borne out with 61%
of drivers telling us their expenditure on fuel has increased
this year.
“The Chancellor has chosen to be relatively light touch when it
comes to taxing new diesel cars. Any new diesel car registered
from 1st April 2018 will be hit with a higher
first year tax rate unless they conform to the latest real world
driving standards. So current beleaguered owners of diesel cars
can breathe a sigh of relief that they will not be punished
further by the Treasury – but they will need to keep their eyes
on local authorities who may be introducing clean air zones in
the near future. The side effect of today’s announcement however
might be that there is a risk therefore that it might encourage
some to stay with their older diesel vehicles.
“His decision to increase the diesel surcharge on company car tax
appears to be more about revenue-raising rather than using tax to
encourage drivers to opt for a particular type of vehicle.
“Driverless cars are coming – there is no doubt about that, but
more than a third of drivers we spoke to (39%) told us that they
would rather see the Government invest in improving the UK’s
existing road network. After all, a new generation of driverless
cars will still depend on the roads we have today – which, in the
case of local roads in particular, are plagued with potholes. A
further 1 in 4 drivers would prefer to see public money spent on
health or education.”
