UK Budget - RAC reacts to fuel duty and pothole funding announcements

Following announcements made by the Chancellor in today's Budget, please see two statements from the RAC.

Fuel duty freezes continue for another 12 months

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to keep the 5p fuel duty cut in place for another 12 months. The cut has given drivers some much-needed relief in what has been the most torrid year ever at the pumps, with price records being broken even after duty was cut. Given the importance of driving for consumers and businesses, duty should be kept low to help fight inflation.”

Pothole funding

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: "While welcome, another £200m is unlikely to make a big difference to the overall quality of our dilapidated local roads.

"We need to significantly increase funding for local road maintenance and improvement so councils can resurface roads properly rather than patching them up and hoping for the best. Last year the Government spent £1.125bn on local roads in England which is in stark contrast to the £7bn that went into major roads from car tax, despite local roads covering so many more miles."

VAT on public EV chargepoints (no announcement made)

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “We’re disappointed the Government has not brought the 20% rate of VAT on public charge points down to match the 5% levied on domestic charging. A third of drivers do not have access to a driveway or a garage so will continue to be put off going electric or, if they have already have, penalised by high public charging prices, exacerbated by paying more in VAT than they should have to.”

Find out more about current UK petrol and diesel prices via RAC Fuel Watch.