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P JEL DUTY
Page 7
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RHA and FTA will fight on over fuel duty
AS THE INDUSTRY faces the prospect of another 2p/litre rise in fuel duty on 1 September — the third increase in nine months — the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association insist they have not given up lobbying on the issue.
The latest Quarterly Energy report from the Department of Energy finds that UK hauliers are still paying the highest price for diesel at the pumps in Europe at 103p/litre; nearly 9p more than the next most expensive country, Italy. This is in stark contrast to the actual price of fuel (excluding tax) where the UK ranks twentieth out of 27 countries at 35.4p/litre.
A spokeswoman for the FTA says: We are continuing with our 'Every Penny Counts' campaign to highlight the need for a commonsense approach by government to the issue. We are proposing an approach whereby essential services like the road haulage sector pay a reduced levy." According to the FTA, the cumulative increases in fuel duty from December 2008 to September 2009 will net the Treasury 1533m on top of the current #24.6bn it already receives from fuel tax.
Jack Semple, director of policy for the RHA, adds: "We will be intensifying our efforts and are engaging robustly with the Treasury on the fuel duty issue. It's outrageous that they the Treasury] have raised road tax by 150/. It's damaging at the best of times but it's unthinkable during a recession.