§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are his plans for the future taxation of liquefied petroleum gas used as road fuel; and whether he has any intention of changing the relationship between the duty on such gas and that on petrol.
§ Mr. Peter ReesMy right hon. and learned Friend has continued in the Budget the practice of dutying LPG for use as a road fuel at half the rate applied to petrol. I have reviewed the arguments for encouraging the use of LPG as a road fuel and I have decided that we658W and the standard rate of tax was reduced to compensate for the extra revenue from this and from the abolition of tax relief on mortgage interest.
§ Mr. Peter ReesI regret that the information is not available in the precise form required. The available figures are given below and relate to 1979.
shall not seek, during the lifetime of this Administration, to change this relationship, unless the growth in automotive use of LPG should become such as seriously to undermine the revenue from other road fuels. In any event, we shall not seek to change the relationship in such a way as to discriminate against LPG, after taking into account relative calorific values and engine efficiencies.