It’s crunch time for fuel duty as chancellor George Osborne prepares to deliver his budget.
The Fair Fuel campaign, which includes the major transport trade associations, has been pressing Osborne to abandon plans for an above-inflation fuel tax increase and to freeze duty at the current levels.
In a pre-budget television interview, Osborne hinted that a freeze on duty was a possibility, saying that he had been looking very carefully at the issue.
In its submission to the chancellor, the Freight Transport Association has also been pressing for the introduction of a fuel price stabiliser and no change in vehicle excise duty.
Other issues in the FTA submission include:
> Early progress in introducing a time-based lorry road user charge to ensure that foreign lorries pay their way on UK roads, together with a parallel compensation mechanism to offset the charge for UK-based carriers
> No switch from the current air passenger duty regime to a per-plane tax.
> Widening the scope of low-carbon HGV investment grants and providing the right investment environment for the development of low-carbon refuelling infrastructure.