All Sections

Budget 2015: What does it mean for motorists?

Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his 2015 budget. Here’s how it will affect you, the motorist, over the coming years.

Had something better to do than hear Chancellor George Osborne make jokes about the pink labour bus and listen to a lengthy figures-based speech? Have no fear, here’s our round-up of the budget when it comes to motoring.

Fuel Duty

The Chancellor has scrapped his plans to increase fuel duty by 0.54 per litre in September 2015. The plan is to help pass on the savings created by a drop in oil prices. Doing so, Osborne claimed, will save motorists £10 per tank of fuel ─ about £675 a year by 2016. Though the £10 figure is hard to quantify, it does you will be spending less at the pumps. But we may well see another increase once the general election is done and dusted, as to rock the boat beforehand would be dangerous for the Conservative party.

Cheaper petrol in remote areas

Those who live out in the sticks could see cheaper petrol, but there is no guarantee. “The government recognises that motorists in some rural areas face particularly high pump prices compared to the rest of the UK, and has now received full approval from the Council of the European Union to extend the rural fuel rebate scheme to 17 areas of the UK mainland, enabling retailers in eligible areas to register for a 5 pence per litre fuel duty discount,” Osborne said.

Autonomous vehicle investment

The UK government keeps banging on about wanting to be at the forefront of autonomous cars, which is why Osborne announced an investment of £100 million for related projects.

Road tax increase

Vehicle Excise Duty – aka ‘road tax’ – will rise by inflation from the 1st of April 2015. This is no April Fool, unfortunately, and will apply to cars, vans, motorcycle and motorcycle trade licences. That means an increase of £10 for a car in the M VED bracket (CO2 emissions over 255g/km) and no change for cars up to the G bracket (CO2 emissions up to 165g/km).

Investment in roads

£3.4 billion is said to have been spent on improving UK roads and a further £2.3 billion will continue the job, including money being spent on upgrades to the Mersey Gateway Bridge, A1, M62, M1, A556 and a tunnel under Stonehenge to ease the strain on links to the South West of England.

HGV driver measures

Measures were outlined that will reduce the shortage of skilled staff in the HGV sector in a bid to put British people into jobs as opposed to foreign hauliers. SImply put, work will be done to address the shortage of qualified HGV drivers in the UK.

Severn crossing toll

That huge bridge over the Severn river between England and Wales on the M4 motorway will see a reduced toll from 2018, meaning less pennies needed to cross it. It is understood the toll may well be abolished altogether, making life cheaper for drivers who regularly travel the route.

Company car tax

Company car tax will begin to reward the use of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) by increasing the benefit-in-kind rates more slowly than previously planned, while other cars will see a three per cent increase in 2019-2020 rates.

Classic car tax

Those with a car registered before the 1st of January 1976 will enjoy VED exemption. Hooray for bangers and classic cars.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *