Thank you for contacting me about fuel duty.
I welcome the fact that the decision to freeze fuel duty for ten consecutive years has saved the average driver over £1,000.
Cars are essential to many people, particularly in rural areas like Teignbridge, and I that colleagues at the Treasury are aware of local concerns about any rise in fuel duty. Any changes to fuel duty would be considered as part of the normal process leading up to the Budget. I shall be listening carefully on Wednesday to what the Chancellor has to say about motorists.
I do welcome that for the first time since 1926, money raised through car tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) is now being spent directly on the roads. Around £28bn is being invested in England's strategic and local roads, an amount equivalent to all VED receipts. I was also very pleased to see the announcement in the recent Spending Review that £1.7 billion has been made available for local highway authorities in England (outside London) for 2021-2022 to improve the condition of local roads and associated infrastructure.
A new £2.5 billion Pothole Fund is also running between 2020/21 and 2024/25 to help local authorities fill-in around 50 million potholes across the country and stop potholes forming in the first place.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
