Ambitious programme unveiled to support environmental and green energy credentials

A range of measures and support was unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Budget today to support the UK’s environmental and green energy credentials.

In a thinly disguised jibe at former Tory Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and his penchant for UK-US travel, the Chancellor announced a jump in Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates, for private jets, meaning each passenger would pay £450.

For the less well off, she cheered motorists by declining to increase fuel duty.

Instead, the rate has been frozen for a further year, which would avoid adding at least 7p a litre on fuel.

But with an eye to more ecologically favourable transport, she pledged to support the electric car industry with £2bn for the automotive sector to enable further improvement in electric vehicle take-up.

Welcoming the fuel duty freeze, John Cassidy, Managing Director of Sales at Close Brothers Motor Finance, said: “As the cost of car ownership continues to rise, this is one less thing for drivers to worry about in the short term.

“One in four (26%) drivers already say cars are becoming unaffordable, and though a freeze is positive, petrol costs still remain relatively high.”

He added: “Whilst the freeze will ease some pressure on motorists’ wallets, the Government will have an eye on the horizon and its planned 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

“It’s vital that in facilitating this transition, the Government uses carrots as well as sticks and commits to strong investment in charging infrastructure.

“By doing this, there will be fewer challenges of electric vehicle ownership, and more consumers are given the option to move away from internal combustion engines.”

There was also support for home owners desperate to cut their utility bills when the Chancellor announced that she would kick-start the the Warm Homes plan with an initial £3.4bn over the next three years to transform 350,000 homes, including a quarter of a million low income and social homes.

Earlier this month the Government announced a multi-year investment into the Carbon Capture Storage sector, creating 4,000 jobs across Merseyside and Teesside.

The Chancellor followed this up with an announcement that she is now providing funding for 11 new green hydrogen projects across England, Scotland and Wales, including Barrow-in-Furness, which she said will be among the first commercial-scale projects anywhere in the world.

And the big Labour idea to “take Putin’s foot off our throat” in terms of energy costs, also received firm backing from the Chancellor.

She reconfirmed Labour’s support for GB Energy, to be headquartered in Aberdeen.

She announced an overall additional £100bn over the next five years in capital spending, which she said would also bring in private investment, meaning more jobs and opportunities.

Alan O’Sullivan, Director, Energy & Natural Resources at commercial real estate services group, Avison Young, said: “When combined with National Grid’s connections reform, Great British Energy can be the vehicle for the UK Government to make tangible contributions to unlock renewable generation and storage projects.

“The background of Nimbyism, however, alongside planning delays, continues to undermine efforts to decarbonise the UK economy and lay the foundations to enable significant investment in other areas, particularly the ICT sector, such as data centres and AI.” 

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