Speaking in response to the Budget announcement on 30 October 2024, David Wells OBE, Chief Executive of business group Logistics UK said: “The Chancellor’s decision to freeze fuel duty for a further year is welcome news for the logistics sector. Nothing moves without logistics: the sector supplies our hospitals, schools, factories, shops and homes with everything they need, everywhere, every day. The sector is vital to any plans to stimulate growth across the economy, and this respite is welcome news for a sector already seeing increasing business failures over the last year.
“The sector operates on very narrow margins – often only 2.5% – with fuel representing a large proportion of the weekly operating cost for hauliers.
“Logistics powers every part of the UK’s economy – it is the UK’s system for growth – and today’s announcement should drive confidence in our sector’s ability to deliver for its customers. with confidence.”
Missing a trick
Bryan Main, Managing Director of Mobility at Certas Energy, agrees, adding: “Fuel duty will be frozen for at least another year. As the largest fuel distributor in the UK, we can sense the relief that customers are feeling with this news – especially the countless businesses that have fleets out on the road every day to keep this country running.
He did however add: “We do believe the Government has missed a trick on fuel duty today. While companies running HGV fleets can’t easily switch to electric to avoid the cost and emissions of diesel, they can use HVO, a drop-in alternative to diesel that reduces emissions by up to 90% compared to standard diesel and can be used without any modification to the vehicle.
“Many of our customers want to use HVO to lower their emissions but find the current price premium a challenge. Today’s budget was an opportunity to make sustainable fuels such as HVO more competitive, by lowering fuel duty on them. It could have had a big impact on the UK’s green transition, decarbonising road transport faster and more smoothly. I think that opportunity has been missed.”
Economic growth
The announcement was also met with enthusiasm by Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK, who commented positively, but also issued a warning to Rachel Reeves: “I am delighted that Rachel Reeves has listened to FairFuelUK supporters and her Party MPs’ constituents. She finally recognises that keeping Fuel Duty frozen is at the core of a laudable journey to economic growth. So, Rachel, that’s a great start. But please don’t rest on your laurels. Let’s build the first-ever road-user transport strategy that benefits the economy without your party’s false and emotional, scientifically baseless belief that the UK is the only country to save the planet, and the motorist is to blame for all the environmental ills. That costly brainwashing must stop now. Start incentivising the UK’s 37m drivers and stop seeing them as an easy cash cow.”
Image credit: Certas Energy