FTA repeats call for fuel duty cut
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• by Mlles Brignall The Freight Transport Association is appealing to Chancellor Gordon Brown to reconsider a reduced fuel duty scheme for hauliers.
The request appears in its pre-Budget submission despite Brown's description of similar schemes as "too bureaucratic" in last November's Budget statement.
"We think it absurd that a car user is being charged the same rate of duty as a haulier running a 44-tonne truck," says an FTA spokesman. "One is popping round to see his granny; the other is central to the industrial process and economy of the country and should be treated as such."
The FTA says it wants to see a 10p/lit reduction in duty for those running commercial vehicles and says this could be done in one of three ways: • It suggests that the government could create a new "blue" diesel that would be subject to a lower rate of taxation—but it would only be available to those who could demonstrate it was for commercial purposes; • An effective reduction in the cost of fuel could be achieved by introducing an Essential User Rebate—hauliers would simply apply for a rebate in a similar way to reclaiming VAT.
• Alternatively, operators could use a secure credit card to pay for diesel that would automatically deduct the duty reduction on the statement.
"We've examined all the arguments and feel the Chancellor has got to look at this issue again," says the spokesman. 'While he has voiced his opposition to such a scheme, implementing it is hardly rocket science and it's absolutely necessary to the industry."
• The FTA has called for Transport to be reinstated as a separate government department with its own Secretary of State and a full seat at the Cabinet table.
FTA president Lawrence Christensen made his appeal to Brown at the ETA's annual conference and dinner on Tuesday (20 February).