Politicians reject bid to soften fuel duty rise

Tuesday 26 November 2019

Jersey's politicians have rejected a bid to soften a proposed increase in fuel duty from 6p per litre to 4p.

If adopted, the proposals would have seen the amount injected into the Climate Emergency Fund reduced by £1million.

It’s the first hurdle the ‘Government Plan 2020-2023’ has cleared as debate over the Council of Ministers’ spending plans for the coming years got underway in the States Assembly this morning.

The plans span the entire public sector, with significant investment planned to be poured into schools, the future hospital project, finding a permanent government HQ, solving the problem of what to do with Fort Regent, and a £10million affordable housing scheme. 

But among the more contentious measures put forward was a proposed increase in fuel duty to 6p – with 4p going into a new £5million Climate Emergency Fund.

Despite supporting the principle of “polluter pays”, a panel of politicians tasked with reviewing the idea said it could have an unintended negative impact on businesses and consumers, and could lead to a rise in inflation. 

Environment Scrutiny Panel Chair Mike Jackson therefore proposed reducing the rise to 4p in the States Assembly this morning – an action that would have seen the Climate Emergency Fund reduce by £1million.

The idea was abruptly shot down by the Environment Minister, Deputy John Young, who argued the action would undermine the declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’ by States Members earlier this year.

Pictured: Environment Minister, Deputy John Young.

He also reminded States Members of the “health aspects” related to car use, reflecting on how poor air quality is “damaging our young children’s lungs."

Senator Sarah Ferguson said that she didn’t support the idea of using tax to encourage behaviour change, expressing particular concerns about how a 25% increase in costs would affect small and medium-scale businesses. 

This calculation was later challenged by Deputy Gregory Guida, who took out a calculator to prove to States Members that the impact was smaller.

He reflected on the impact a move towards a fully electric bus fleet would have on the island, telling his colleagues that it would have the impact of taking 4,000 petrol or diesel cars of the road. 

Deputy Jess Perchard described the suggestion that the fuel duty proposals were an example of the government “taking climate change seriously”, arguing that a better step would be to make a “drastic” change such as making buses free – a move previously proposed by Deputy Rob Ward. 

The Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Kevin Lewis, whose department has responsibility for road transport, argued against the amendment on the grounds that road transport accounts for a third of carbon emissions.

The #StatesAssembly has voted to REJECT the 4th Amendment from #ScrutinyJSY to the @GovJersey Plan: fuel duty won’t be reduced from 6p to 4p. RESULT: 14 FOR vs. 32 AGAINST #GovPlanJSY #StatesAssembly #JerseyCI https://t.co/Bud8BNNmAF

— States Assembly (@StatesAssembly) November 26, 2019

Scrutiny Panellist Deputy Kirsten Morel described the motivation behind the amendment as “quite simply one of balance”, refuting an earlier suggestion from Deputy Montfort Tadier that their aims were “misguided."

Deputy Morel added that, in his view, topping up a fund with as yet unclear spending aims was not a “rational or careful way to use taxpayers’ money."

However, a majority of States Members did not agree with that rationale, and the amendment was defeated by 32 votes against 14 voted in favour, who were Senators Ferguson, Moore and Pallett, the Constables of St. Helier, St. Saviour, St. Brelade, Grouville, Trinity and St. Peter, and Deputies Morel, Ahier, Perchard, Pamplin and Gardiner. 

There were no abstentions.

It wasn't the only environment-related amendment to the Government Plan to be debated yesterday, with Deputy Rob Ward putting forward a plan to hike up GST to 10% on luxury cars (worth more than £30,000). 

While the idea was rejected with 14 votes for and 33 against, the second part of Deputy Ward's proposals - to order the Treasury Minister to investigate the revenue impact of decreasing GST on eco-friendly products, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, insulation and double glazing so that the States Assembly can consider the financial effects of zero-rating those items in the next Government Plan - passed by 38 votes.

The #StatesAssembly has voted to ADOPT Part 2 (or 'B' as listed in image below ) of @DeputyRobWard’s 10th Amendment. RESULT: 38 FOR vs. 8 AGAINST. 1 ABSTENTION. #GovPlanJSY #JerseyCI pic.twitter.com/i6jxxg5Zxt

— States Assembly (@StatesAssembly) 26 November 2019

Eight States Members voted against, while there was one abstention.