§ Norman BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use of economic instruments to discourage passenger travel(a) by air and (b) by road. [99202]
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§ John HealeyThe Chancellor considers all relevant social, economic and environmental factors when deciding taxation policy. Alongside the 2002 pre-budget report the Government published "Tax and the environment: using economic instruments". This document outlined that Government intervention is aimed at tackling market failures.
The Government does not have policies to discourage passenger travel but have introduced a host of policies to encourage more environmentally friendly behaviour by road users including duty incentives for road fuel gases and ultra low sulphur fuels, graduated vehicle excise duty (VED) for cars based on carbon emissions with incentives for the use of cleaner fuels and technologies, restructuring of vehicle excise duty for lorries so that the cleanest, least polluting lorries now pay some of the lowest VED rates in the EU and reforms to company car taxation to account for the levels of carbon emissions.
The 2002 pre-Budget report announced that the Government will discuss with stakeholders the most effective economic instruments for ensuring that the industry is encouraged to take account of, and where appropriate reduce, its contribution to global warming, local air and noise pollution.