§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make it his policy to encourage motorists through the tax system to change to use the cleanest available fuels; [45949]
(2) if he will make it his policy to maintain the road fuel duty differential. [45948]
§ Mr. Boateng[holding answer 25 March 2002]: The Government set duty differentials to encourage the production and use of cleaner fuels, and the development of alternative transport fuels. We announced in Budget 2001 that, to provide the stability needed for the merging road fuel gas market, duty on road fuel gases (such as liquefied petroleum gas) would not be increased in real terms until 2004 at the earliest.