HC Deb 08 April 1981 vol 2 cc947-9
13. Mr. Home Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will study the effects on the mobility of people in all parts of Scotland of proposed cuts in spending on public transport and increases in the price of road fuel.

Mr. Rifkind

I think it unlikely that such a wide-ranging study would be of any real practical benefit.

Mr. Home Robertson

Will the Minister accept that the recent 20 per cent. increase in the tax on petrol will have a disastrous effect, particularly on people who live in rural Scotland? What representations on the matter has he brought to the attention of his right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer? How can he justify his recent intervention to prevent Lothian regional council from reducing bus fares in those parts of the area that are outside Edinburgh?

Mr. Rifkind

The hon. Gentleman's question implies that those who use public transport in rural areas will suffer because of the increase in fuel tax. Public transport should not be affected in any way, because bus operators do not pay duty on the fuel that they use for public services. In answer to the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question, the Lothian regional council's application could not be accepted by the bus group because its external financing limit would have been exceeded.

Mr. McQuarrie

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that there is no public transport in some of the rural areas in eastern Scotland, and that the 20 per cent. increase, together with the additional 4p levied recently and the further 4p expected next week, will have a devastating effect on those rural areas?

Mr. Rifkind

The Government accept that any increase in fuel costs creates problems for people living in rural areas. However, I remind my hon. Friend——

Mr. Canavan

Friend?

Mr. Rifkind

—that even taking into account the proposed increases, the proportion of the tax to the total cost of petrol is still less today than it was in 1970.

Mr. Donald Stewart

Is the Minister aware that the study called for by the hon. Member for Berwick and East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) is of vital importance to my constituency, where petrol is now £1.75 a gallon in some areas? Is he further aware that as a result firms such as Schweppes and Beecham Foods have announced that they will no longer bear the extra transport costs to the Western Isles, and that the cost will be added to the 15 per cent. VAT?

Mr. Rifkind

If the right hon. Gentleman is concerned about transport to the Western Isles, he will acknowledge that in the period of less than two years during which this Government have been in office they have more than doubled the amount of assistance given by Government to keep down transport costs to island communities. The costs are far less than they otherwise would have been.

Mr. Millan

Would not the study be useful in providing further evidence of the devastating effect of the 20 per cent. increase in petrol tax on rural areas, and perhaps encourage those Conservative Members who spoke brave words at the time of the Budget to vote against the increase?

Mr. Rifkind

The right hon. Gentleman should be aware that the increased cost of petrol is only one of the factors that affect mobility in rural areas and elsewhere. Those factors were taken into account by my right hon. and learned Friend when he announced his Budget.