Fuel Duty - The Fight Goes On!
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The current record prices for fuel in the UK have been attracting
enormous media coverage over the past week, not least because hauliers are having to deal with spiralling costs.
Members will be aware that the RHA's on-going campaign for a level playing field has involved lobbying at all levels and indeed protests at various locations around the country including Whitehall, Edinburgh and Grangemouth oil refinery where more than 200 hauliers turned out in support.
We believe that this has played a key role in the Chancellor's decision to freeze the duty on diesel for over three years now.
Despite this we are continuing to lobby for more immediate action to address the problems caused by volatile oil prices for example through the introduction of a fuel duty regulator or by rolling an element of fuel duty into a higher rate of diesel VAT which hauliers could recover. In the last three months, we have met with Treasury Ministers on 4 separate occasions - including a personal phone call last Thursday; DfT Ministers twice; and with their officials on more than 8 occasions - all to discuss what can be done to level the playing field. And we have consistently raised the issue at every meeting of the Road Haulage Forum.
In addition we have supported an amendment to the Finance Bill introduced to Parliament by Scottish National Party MPs which would have forced the Government to reduce fuel duties once world oil prices breached set limits (sadly rejected by a majority of MPs); launched an e-petition to persuade the Scottish Parliament to conduct an inquiry into the impact of fuel duties and the working time directive; attended a meeting of over 50 Members of the European Parliament; addressed the CBI Trade Association Council to ensure 'customers' are aware that the costs of haulage must go up; met with the British Chambers of Commerce and perhaps most importantly, jointly with the FTA, we have launched the independent "Burns Freight Taxes Inquiry" to investigate the scale of the problems caused by high fuel costs and foreign competition.
All very well but we also need to tell the world about our problems. And we're doing just that - audited newspaper references for August alone reached an audience of 5.8 million people! Meanwhile in the last 7 days RHA staff have taken part in over 50 interviews for radio and television.
The RHA will continue with its efforts to change the Government's position on this issue. Meanwhile, we urge all members to engage with the Burns Freight Taxes Inquiry - their questionnaire is included with the October edition of Roadway - so that we have all the ammunition we need to continue the campaign.
Members will be aware that the RHA's on-going campaign for a level playing field has involved lobbying at all levels and indeed protests at various locations around the country including Whitehall, Edinburgh and Grangemouth oil refinery where more than 200 hauliers turned out in support.
We believe that this has played a key role in the Chancellor's decision to freeze the duty on diesel for over three years now.
Despite this we are continuing to lobby for more immediate action to address the problems caused by volatile oil prices for example through the introduction of a fuel duty regulator or by rolling an element of fuel duty into a higher rate of diesel VAT which hauliers could recover. In the last three months, we have met with Treasury Ministers on 4 separate occasions - including a personal phone call last Thursday; DfT Ministers twice; and with their officials on more than 8 occasions - all to discuss what can be done to level the playing field. And we have consistently raised the issue at every meeting of the Road Haulage Forum.
In addition we have supported an amendment to the Finance Bill introduced to Parliament by Scottish National Party MPs which would have forced the Government to reduce fuel duties once world oil prices breached set limits (sadly rejected by a majority of MPs); launched an e-petition to persuade the Scottish Parliament to conduct an inquiry into the impact of fuel duties and the working time directive; attended a meeting of over 50 Members of the European Parliament; addressed the CBI Trade Association Council to ensure 'customers' are aware that the costs of haulage must go up; met with the British Chambers of Commerce and perhaps most importantly, jointly with the FTA, we have launched the independent "Burns Freight Taxes Inquiry" to investigate the scale of the problems caused by high fuel costs and foreign competition.
All very well but we also need to tell the world about our problems. And we're doing just that - audited newspaper references for August alone reached an audience of 5.8 million people! Meanwhile in the last 7 days RHA staff have taken part in over 50 interviews for radio and television.
The RHA will continue with its efforts to change the Government's position on this issue. Meanwhile, we urge all members to engage with the Burns Freight Taxes Inquiry - their questionnaire is included with the October edition of Roadway - so that we have all the ammunition we need to continue the campaign.
