Following Prime Minister Truss’s plans to help businesses with energy costs for the next six months, Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Petrol Retailers Association, said: “We are pleased to see the Government’s recognition that businesses will require support to survive the winter.
Ahead of the Budget the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer urging the Government to cut fuel duty to reduce the burden of soaring energy costs and fuel prices on consumers and businesses. In its letter, the PRA explains that rapid increase in the wholesale price of petrol and diesel have had to be passed on to the motorist. The association explains; “Our members have done what they can to alleviate the increases, but the speed at which prices have moved has been unprecedented and has left many forecourt operators with negative fuel margins”.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, has warned that record pump prices are almost certain to be eclipsed before the end of October. The current record prices of 142ppl for petrol and 148ppl for diesel were set in April 2012. Experian Catalist UK averages for 19 October were 141.35ppl and 144.84ppl respectively.
The government announcement to exclude essential workers from self-isolation requirements if they have been double vaccinated should be extended to forecourt workers, says the Petrol Retailers Association.
Following the Government’s decision to ban new diesel or petrol heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) sold after 2040 as part of a plan to decarbonise the transport sector, the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has described the announcement as “optimistic but completely unrealistic.”
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has reacted with a mixture of horror and dismay to the suggestion that road pricing could be introduced to cover the loss of revenue from fuel taxation when petrol and diesel cars are phased out. PRA chairman Brian Madderson said: “We are deeply concerned about the government’s potential road pricing proposals. It is unfathomable that the government would introduce a measure that would only succeed in discriminating against the poorest in society.
The Petrol Retailers and Car Wash Associations represent the 5,350 independent forecourt operators and specialist car wash companies across the UK. This covers 65 per cent of the total fuel outlets (PFS). Many of these sites have Automated Car Washes (ACW). The PRA does not represent the standalone Hand Car Washes (HCW), which on occasion may breach Covid-19 regulations as well as ones covering tax, employment and the environment.
The Supreme Court unanimously decided in favour that ATMs at existing shops should not be subject to separate business rates assessment on 20 May. “We are delighted that the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of retailers, meaning that they will now be rightly owed around £500 million in business rates refunds,” said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
As we have seen, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presented his first Budget to Parliament it contained a number of potential automotive demand drivers. But how has the industry responded to the proposals? Here are some of the reactions of the various sectors of the automotive industry.
The PRA has sent the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Right Honourable the Lord Tyrie, chairman of the CMA, the case for government intervention in the reform of unfair changes to ATM usage fees. Many other organisations have also raised their concerns, including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Association of Convenience Stores, and consumer group Which?
The PRA has written to Sajid Javid MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a case for cutting road fuel duty by 2 pence per litre in the first Budget of the new Government.
Senior sources have confirmed that the Government would announce the 2ppl fuel duty cut later this year – the first reduction of the motoring tax in eight years. “The PRA has welcomed hints carried by national media that the Treasury may be considering fuel duty cuts in the upcoming Autumn Budget”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
“The PRA is disappointed to see that the Supreme Court has agreed to allow the government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the right of appeal against last year’s defeat in the long-running dispute with major supermarkets over business rates and ATMs.”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA). In November 2018 the Court of Appeal ruled that ATMs located both inside and outside of stores should not be assessed for additional business rates on top of the normal store rates costs, retailers are already facing. The VOA appealed on the grounds that ATMs facing outward shouldn’t be exempt, and should count towards overall business rates, making the bills higher.
The Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) is seeking urgent confirmation from the Treasury that petrol filling stations (PFS) will be eligible for small business rates relief announced in the Budget. This request comes after some confusion in the 2013 Budget, when the Treasury did not specifically include PFS as one of the eligible business categories. The PRA had to intervene to obtain formal confirmation that, subject to State Aid de minimis limits and the rates threshold, the discount scheme was applicable.
In their joint budget submission, the PRA and CWA have highlighted concerns that the hand car wash sector should be paying up to £1.45 billion per year in tax, and this is not being collected by HMRC.
