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Fuels: Prices

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of taxes on fuel in decreasing car usage. (218415)

I have been asked to reply.

HM Revenue and Customs estimates the impact of a change in fuel duty on the distance travelled by vehicles using historic data. Other things being equal, an increase in fuel duty leads to a reduction in distance travelled, although the effect is not one-for-one because many road transport journeys are non-discretionary.