Delivering his final Autumn Statement before the General Election, George Osborne said: ‘Despite falling fuel prices let me make this clear: we’ve cut fuel duty and we will keep it frozen.’
This follows on from his confirmation in the 2013 Autumn Statement that fuel duty would be frozen for the rest of this Parliament.
And the Government also said the price-based trigger point for changes to both the supplementary charge and fuel duty, set by the Fair Fuel Stabiliser in 2011, will be abolished.
However Mr Osborne stopped short of offering a further fuel duty cut, which has caused criticism including from Lex Autolease.
Andrew Hogsden, senior manager, strategic fleet consultancy, said: ‘British businesses are burdened with some of the highest fuel prices in Europe. Reducing fuel duty would provide them with an immediate cashflow boost as they look to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the recovering economy. Unfortunately the Government’s decision not to reduce fuel duty means they remain saddled with this costly overhead.’
The FairFuelUK campaign also criticised the lack of a fuel duty reduction. Last month saw the campaign repeat its call to the Treasury Minister for a 3p cut in duty in the Autumn Statement and March Budget, citing economic evidence that cutting duty is good for new jobs, increasing GDP and lowering inflation.
In response to today’s Autumn Statement, FairFuelUK has reiterated its call for an oil pricing inquiry.
In his speech today, the Chancellor said that the Government demands that falls in oil prices should be passed on to people at the pumps. This follows on from this comments last month, as reported by BBC News that: 'Our message is clear – the oil price has fallen and we expect that to be passed on to people at the petrol station filling up their cars,' said Mr Osborne.
'We expect the oil companies to do this and we will be watching very carefully to make sure they do.'
