Sunak disappoints SPOA
24 March 2022
The Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) is amongst the industry bodies expressing its disappointment with the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spring statement yesterday.
The organisation says that despite almost 16,000 signatures having been received by an eleventh-hour petition calling to delay the removal of red diesel entitlement from the construction industry, plus a concerted and united effort by construction sector bodies including the National Federation of Builders, National Federation of Demolition Contractors, Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), Builders Merchants Federation, Build UK and SPOA, amongst others, no mention was made of the legislation which, the SPOA believes, could result in companies going out of business.
The association had earlier asked the chancellor to delay the removal of the rebate for construction users.
Callum Mackintosh, president of the SPOA, said: “This is yet another blow to the construction sector. Over the last few weeks, and since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of fuel has skyrocketed. We have come together as an industry to reason with the chancellor to delay the removal of red diesel entitlement for the construction industry.
“Whilst the fuel duty cut of 5p per litre is welcome and does represent a reduction in duty of 8.63% on both red and white diesel, the reality is that the construction industry faces an increase of fuel duty of 42.77p per litre from 1 April.
“With cost pressures on construction at unprecedented levels, the spring statement should have been the chancellor’s opportunity to inject confidence into the construction and associated industries but instead the industry was disappointingly overlooked.
“Furthermore, the chancellor could have taken the opportunity to put some of the projected £1.28bn revenue raised over the next 12 months from red diesel rebate removal to good use. [The government’s] 2021's red diesel replacement competition of £40m can be seen as nothing more than virtue signalling by our members now.
“We were told red diesel rebate was a tax relief on pollution, but this government has done nothing to incentivise uptake on greener alternative fuels, instead choosing to tax them at the same rate of duty.
“I am afraid to say that the consensus in the construction industry is that the removal of red diesel entitlement is simply a tax grab.”
The SPOA says that, with the price of red diesel and white diesel per litre currently 122p and 143p respectively, with VAT, and alternative fuel such as HVO Green D+ priced at 190p per litre, many businesses in the construction industry are fearing the worst.
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