Clause 59
Finance (No.2) Bill
10:45 am
Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman was certainly right about the lower end of the scale. Will the Financial Secretary comment on the remarks of Stewart Whyte, the director of the Association of Car Fleet Operators, about the clause? He said:
“Generally, it is a broadly neutral budget for the fleet industry with no major changes. However, the further tightening of company car tax in 2008-09 is a minor disappointment. It is clear that vehicle manufacturers are having some difficulty in driving through the technological changes that will see a significant rise in the number of very low CO2-emitting cars on sale.”
We certainly explored that issue in the debate on vehicle excise duty. He went on:
“We hope that all parties will work together to ensure that the typical car becomes much more fuel- and CO2-efficient—and therefore tax-efficient—so that the impact on drivers of the tax change is neutral. We cannot have a company car tax system which takes no account of the technical realities of the vehicles available and, as a result, penalises company car drivers through no fault of their own.”