Relief for motorists - at least for now
Commenting on the announcement in the budget that the planned increase in fuel duty would be staggered, Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“At last there is some relief for cash-strapped motorists who over the past year have seen the pump price of unleaded jump by 26.4p to almost record levels. With nine out of ten passenger journeys taking place on the roads, and 28.5 million cars in Britain, every household in the land has felt some financial pain.
“Drivers spend about 15% of their disposable income on motoring and when it comes to fuel prices, every penny really does count.
“If the planned increase had gone ahead on April 1st, it would have added more than 3p to a litre of petrol. That’s an extra £2.50 every time you fill up an average family car like a Ford Mondeo.”
The Chancellor announced that fuel duty would rise 1p on April 1st, 1p in October and 0.76p in January of next year.
He confirmed that a similar formula (RPI + 1p) would be applied to the rate of fuel duty on April 1st 2011/12/13 and 14.
Alastair Darling also announced that £100 million would be given to local authorities to spend on repairing roads damaged by the winter weather.
Commenting on this, Professor Glaister said:
“At least the Chancellor has recognized the problem of potholes, but £100 million for local roads will not go far. Motorists know that many roads are now not fit for purpose and it will need billions rather than millions spent on maintenance to bring our road network back up to standard. The future still looks bleak.”
ENDS
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – 020 7747 3486 / 07711 776448
ISDN – 020 7389 0601