§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the average annual fuel bill for(a) privately owned motor vehicles, (b) company cars and (c) commercial vans and lorries. [71665]
§ Dr. ReidI regret that information has not been published in the form requested, although related information on the use of vehicles and expenditure is available from a number of published sources.
Information on the relative mileage of company and private cars is available from the national Travel Survey, and published in "Focus on Personal Travel", 1998 edition. The most recent estimates are that private cars average 8.3 thousand miles per year compared to company cars' 22.6 thousand. However, on average only 11.4 thousand of that mileage is for business purposes, the remainder being for private purposes.
Information on average mileage and fuel consumption estimates are published in The Transport of Goods by Road for heavy goods vehicles, and in The Survey of 608W Small Commercial Vehicles for smaller vans and lorries. Information on expenditure on private motoring is available from the Family Expenditure Survey.
However, I will undertake to use the relevant sources to provide estimates in the form requested and write to the Hon. Member. I will arrange for copies of the letter to be placed in the House of Commons Library.