§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what revisions have been made to his Department's forecasts of road traffic and numbers of vehicles as set out in Table 4.8 of Transport Statistics Great Britain 1998 Edition as a result of changes to road fuel duty and vehicle excise duty set out in the Budget. [79346]
§ Ms Glenda Jackson[holding answer 30 March 1999]: The Department's 1997 National Road Traffic Forecasts already take into account the expected impact of 6 per cent. per annum real increases in fuel duty to 2002 on car use and commercial traffic.
The changes to Vehicle Excise Duty announced in the Budget are designed to influence the fuel efficiency of vehicles purchased, rather than the total number of vehicles on the road or how much they are used.