An adviser to the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told how staff at the Treasury “piled pressure” on the last government to start work on a pay-per-mile road tax.
The Daily Telegraph has spoken to Adam Smith, formerly chief of staff under Mr Hunt from 2022 to 2024, who said senior civil servants repeatedly pushed Downing Street to “start preparatory work on a road pricing scheme” amid fears over dwindling fuel duty receipts. The paper says this is a sign officials could draw up similar plans for current chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The report adds that Mr Smith said “eager” Treasury officials endorsed the policy following a 2022 report by the Transport Committee that recommended the move.
He said Treasury officials warmed to the idea of a pay-per-mile road tax amid concerns that the switch to electric cars will eat into the £25bn a year raised in fuel duty because there is no excise revenue raised on electricity as there is on fuel from a pump.
The report also says Ms Reeves is expected to increase fuel duty for the first time in more than a decade in her maiden Budget.
(File picture – Emovis)
