Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 1
Fourth Report - Road pricing
Published 4 Feb 2022
Paragraph 7
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee Road pricing All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Fuel duty and vehicle excise duty raise some £35 billion a year. Approximately 20% of that revenue is disbursed on maintaining and developing the roads. Neither fuel duty nor vehicle excise duty are currently levied on electric vehicles. The Government is phasing out the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Under the current system of fuel duty and vehicle excise duty, that policy will reduce tax revenues obtained from motoring to zero over the next 20 years. Without radical reform, policies to deliver net zero emissions by 2050 will result in zero revenue for the Government from motoring taxation. A failure to replace existing motoring taxes with an alternative road charging mechanism will lead to either decreased investment in public services, including road maintenance, or increased Government borrowing.
From: Transport Committee, Fourth Report - Road pricing (HC 789), paragraph 7, 4 February 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 March 2023 (deadline 4 April 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government's position is that it "does not currently have plans to consider road pricing", and it has not responded to the Committee's individual recommendations.
- The Chancellor says the Government is "focused on delivering its core priorities, as set out in the 2019 manifesto", and the Exchequer Secretary adds that the immediate focus has been inflation and the cost of living.
- On electric vehicles, the Government states that from 2025 electric cars, vans and motorcycles "will pay Vehicle Excise Duty in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles".
- The Government says motoring tax revenue "will need to keep pace with this change, while remaining affordable for consumers", and that it "will continue to keep all tax policy under review".
- On fuel duty, the Government "will confirm future policy on fuel duty in the Budget in the Spring".