Fuel protests: the bigger picture on motoring costs

Responding to possible actions by fuel protesters who are meeting in Crosshands tonight Friends of the Earth Cymru are calling on hauliers and the public to see the bigger picture on fuel prices.

The environmentalists are pointing out that when all motoring taxes including road tolls are taken into account, the UK effectively has parity with Europe. Indeed, car drivers are slightly below the European average and the forthcoming introduction of the Brit Disc will ensure a level playing field into the future. The last budget tilted the playing field away from the growing job opportunities in the rail-freight industry yet there has been little loss of UK internal road haulage market.

FOE Cymru say that the policy of increasing the cost of fuel is needed to encourage the purchase of fuel efficient cars and locally produced commodities which means less long distance haulage. This would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions which can severely damage the rural economy and agriculture through extreme weather events such as the floods last autumn which cost £700 million.

Neil Crumpton, transport and energy spokesperson for FOE Cymru said:

"Both hauliers and car drivers effectively have parity with Europe when all motoring taxes are included. And if world oil prices rise then all of Europe is similarly affected. So further reductions in duties would only damage jobs in the growing rail-freight industry and undermine incentive for motorists to buy fuel efficient cars and local produce. Climate change is the real threat and cheaper fuel would not help any economy."

FOE Cymru has called for rural support policies that return fuel duty revenues to rural areas though measures from organic conversion grants to shop rate relief and targeted rural Council tax rebates. This would keep the incentive for improving fuel efficiency of vehicle fleet to address UK Kyoto climate change commitments, and reducing traffic mileage for all the environmental, social, health and economic problems increasing levels are causing.

Notes

'ENDS Report 307' (August 2000, pp 28-29) on report of House of Commons Transport Sub-Committee report into the road haulage industry, e.g.:

'the Committee was told of only three cases of UK hauliers losing business to overseas competition, and says it "heard little evidence of widespread penetration of the domestic market by foreign operators." Indeed, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) was forced to concede that the penetration rate was low, and said its concern was the "threat" of future loss of business.'

Britons pay less tax to drive than many of their neighbours in Europe, despite having the highest fuel levies in the West, an independent survey for the Scotland Office found. Motorists in seven countries pay more tax than Britons, and British taxes are slightly below the West European average once road tolls and taxes on car ownership are included.

The hardest-hit is Denmark, where a driver of a 1,600cc car pays £1,761 a year more than his British counterpart, stumping up £2,966. Drivers of 2,000cc cars in Denmark pay £5,627 a year in tax, compared with £1,590 in the UK. The West European average annual tax for a 1,600cc vehicle is £1,222, compared with £1,205 in Britain.

Colin Buchanan and Partners, the consultancy, found that it costs £1,753 a year in Finland, £1,509 in The Netherlands, £1,400 in Norway, £1,380 in the Irish Republic, £1,272 in Portugal and £1,227 in France to drive a 1,600cc car.

Brian Wilson, the Scotland Office Minister, said: Anyone who argues for lower fuel taxation on the basis of bringing us into line with the rest of Europe is obliged to respond to these findings.

...... While Mr Blair called for "common sense" in the fuel debate, a survey by the Scotland Office suggests UK taxes for motorists are slightly below the western European average.

What they pay in Europe Taxes based on a 1,600cc car

Denmark £2,966
Finland £1,753
Netherlands £1,509
Norway £1,400
Ireland £1,380
Portugal £1,272
France £1,227
UK £1,205
Luxembourg £ 596

The independent survey, which was commissioned before the fuel crisis, found that motorists in seven countries, including France and Ireland, paid more tax than British drivers.

The survey added up petrol duty, car purchase taxes, car ownership taxes and road tolls to come up with a total figure.

Danish motorists came off worst with a total tax burden of £2,966 compared to £1,205 for UK drivers.

:59% of the poorest 40% of UK households, do not own a car (National Travel Survey)

Here are the most recent figures from the DETR index of UK transport costs.

This shows the increase in the price of different modes in 1999, with 1974 as 100, as follows:

Petrol / Oil = 111
All motoring costs = 100 (i.e. including car purchase, insurance etc)
Rail = 153
Bus = 187
Disposable income = 180

i.e. for all except bus, travel is cheaper compared than the rise in average wealth.

The overall or external costs of motoring include health damaging air and noise pollution, injuries and rehabilitation, deaths, road maintenance, crashes, policing and lighting, ground pollution, crop and building damage, as well as greenhouse gas related extreme weather economic damage and traffic congestion. Total costs are variously estimated in the region of £45 billion compared to £35 billion raised in fuel duty and VED.

Currently, there are about 22 million cars (22,115,000) licensed on Britain's roads (DETR Transport Statistics, Great Britain 1999). The UK population is about 59 million, so car-ownership level is 1 car for every 2.66 people approx.

Car ownership is up from 18 million cars ten years ago, and is forecast to rise 40% by the year 2030. That is, the 2030 UK forecast is 30.96 million cars, approaching 1 car for every 2 UK residents). For a 2 people per car ratio, a global equitable share by 2050 would result in the 8.9 billion global population owning over 4 billion cars globally, up from 500 million now.

Forecasts are based on car ownership increasing to a saturation point when 90% of the driving age population own cars (it is assumed that everyone wants to, or might have to, own a car if able to drive - however a significant % of population cannot for various reasons). Forecasts suggest that this point would not be reached by 2031, when 21% of households would not have access to a car.

Percentage ownership in rural areas in the UK:

Wales: No car 18.2%, one car 46.9%, two or more cars 34.9%
England: No car 14.6%, one car 43.2%, two or more cars 42.2% - More ownership
Scotland: No car 18.4%, one car 48.4%, two or more cars 33.2% - Similar to Wales

(Local Transport Today, 9.4.98 page 120)