HC Deb 02 December 1996 vol 286 cc661-2
10. Mr. Richards

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the costs of motoring in rural areas. [5217]

Mr. Jonathan Evans

The rural White Paper, "A Working Countryside for Wales", published in March this year, represented a wide-ranging review of the Government's policies that affect rural Wales, including transport. The cost of motoring in rural areas is, of course, one of the factors considered when attempting to strike the right balance between increasing mobility, encouraging economic development and protecting the environment.

Mr. Richards

Is my hon. Friend aware that, while the recent increase in petrol tax was not universally welcomed, the Liberal Democrats propose a carbon tax that would increase the price of a gallon of petrol by 20p? In the light of the new Lib-Lab pact, does that not mean a new threat to the rural way of life by the new brothers opposite?

Mr. Evans

My hon. Friend is aware that, from 1993, my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made it clear that it is part of the Government's fuel duty strategy to arrange for there to be a 5 per cent. a year, on average, real terms increase in the price of fuel. That is a contribution to the balance to which I referred.

My hon. Friend is right to say that such duties fall disproportionately on those in rural areas. I am satisfied that, at this point, the level of fuel duty is not acting as a disincentive to new investment. I am pleased to note today that the Development Board for Rural Wales has announced about 200 new jobs in rural Wales at plants within my constituency and that of the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlile). It is a balance that we must always get right. A carbon tax, which would drive up fuel duties substantially, would, in my view, strongly distort that balance against those in rural areas.