Emergency Budget set for June 2010

The 2010 general election will be remembered as one of the most radical shake-ups in recent history with the UK governed by a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition. The serious work is yet to get underway, the new administration will outline its plans in the Queen's Speech on May 25 and then it will announce its emergency budget on June 22.

What, will you, the motorist get from this coalition government?

Motorists on the whole want congestion free highways and cheaper fuel but that is unlikely to happen. The newly formed coalition has huge budget cuts to make so don't expect a reduction in fuel tax or new roads to be built in the near future.

The proposals below from the Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties were on their election manifesto but it remains to be seen what will be kept and what will be removed under the new coalition.

Conservatives

• Oppose road-pricing, but leader David Cameron admitted he may have to introduce road tolls on new roads
• Introduce 'Fair Fuel Stabiliser' to reduce fuel duty as oil prices rise and increase it as oil prices fall
• Introduce incentives for electricity network operators to establish a national electric car recharging network
• Stop funding new fixed speed cameras and switch to 'better' road safety measures

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats have been vocal on a long-term to a revenue-neutral road-user pricing scheme on motorways and trunk roads

• Switch freight traffic from road to rail by investing in rail improvement, paid for by cutting major roads budget
• Committed in the long-term to a revenue-neutral road-user pricing scheme on motorways and trunk roads

Meanwhile, the Automobile Association (AA) has urged the government to keep the new transport secretary, Philip Hammond, in his post for a fixed term to bring continuity to the position.

Edmund King, AA President said; 'We have had 13 transport secretaries in 22 years so on average they have served only about 20 months each. The real problem is that it can take a new Transport Secretary approximately 12 months to get up to speed with their brief.

'Transport is essential for the country and our economy yet in the past it has been a merry-go-round for ministers to hop on and off. Perhaps we need a fixed term Transport Secretary as well as a fixed term parliament.'

The fleet sector is also preparing itself for the forthcoming emergency budget and will be looking on closely come June 22.

Earlier this year the Labour government announced the establishment of a grant scheme to reduce the cost of eligible electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen cars by 25% up to a maximum of £5,000, which would be available to consumers and business buyers from January 2011 and would run until March 31, 2014. However, following the general election there is no guarantee that the new administration will go ahead with the initiative.

The Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) is calling for talks with the new government as soon as possible to ensure that future tax changes take account of the real world availability of low and zero emission vehicles. Nissan, Peugeot and Mitsubishi are the only manufacturers so far to fully launch electric cars for sale next year.

ACFO chairman Julie Jenner added 'Once again the incentive is well-meaning and to be welcomed, but there is little point in using the tax system to encourage the take-up of certain vehicles when those models are not on sale in the UK. Fiscal incentives and model availability need to be linked and then fleet operators can make an informed decision as to whether those vehicles are appropriate to the individual requirements of their transport operations.'