HM Treasury 4
25 November 1997
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TAX MEASURES TO ENSURE FAIRNESS TO FUTURE AND PRESENT
GENERATIONS
The UK tax system must be fair to future, as well as to present,
generations. Today's Pre-Budget report progresses the
environmental measures announced in the July Budget.
The Government has made clear that economic growth should be
secured in an environmentally sustainable way. Today's
announcements show that the Government is committed to using the
tax system to deliver environmental objectives, where it is
effective to do so.
The Pre-Budget report includes a range of progress reports and
specific announcements relating to environmental taxes:
- a consultation paper on options to control water
pollution is being issued on Thursday by the Department of
the Environment, Transport and the Regions. One option is
a system of water pollution charges, where those
discharging to our rivers would have to pay according to
the nature and amount of pollutants. The Deputy Prime
Minister has commissioned research to test the feasibility
of such a scheme. Both the consultation and research will
inform the Spring Budget.
- research to assess the environmental costs attached to
quarrying, announced in the July Budget, has been
commissioned and is already underway. It will report in the
New Year and inform consideration of whether there is a
case for further measures, which could include new taxes;
- a report will be published tomorrow by HM Customs and
Excise on ways of helping the less well-off keep warm. The
Spring Budget will cut VAT from 17.5 per cent to 5 per cent
on Government funded schemes which help the less-well off
insulate their homes. The Government intends to explore
with its European partners the possibility of a wider
reduced VAT rate for ESMs;
- a document outlining proposals to reduce VED paid by
lorries and buses with clean exhausts will be issued
shortly. The next Budget will return to this measure;
- the Chancellor intends to return to transport issues in
the light of the forthcoming discussions on climate change at
Kyoto led by the Deputy Prime Minister, and the domestic
review of the National Air Quality Standards.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. In the July Budget, the Government released a Statement of
Intent on Environmental Taxation, stating its central
economic objective as promoting high and environmentally
sustainable levels of growth and employment.
2. It was announced in the July Budget that the Department of
the Environment, Transport and the Regions would be
publishing a consultation document on possible measures to
address problems of water pollution. This document will
issue on 27 November. A range of options are considered,
and views invited. Research has also been commissioned by
the Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions to test the feasibility of a possible scheme of
water pollution charging.
3. The July Budget announced that research would be carried
out into the valuation of environmental costs
("externalities") attached to various types of minerals
extraction, and in particular the quarrying of aggregates -
stone, sand and gravel. Research has now been
commissioned. Results will be considered alongside a review
of the operation and level of landfill tax, which Customs
& Excise are carrying out.
4. Details of the Customs & Excise report on helping the less
well-off keep warm, and the VAT cut on schemes letting the
less well-off insulate their homes, can be found in Customs
& Excise Press Notice No.1.
5. The July Budget confirmed an intention to cut vehicle
excise duty (VED) by up to 500 Pounds a year for lorries
and buses meeting a low emissions standard (for
particulates). The aim is to encourage owners to introduce
technologies such as "particulate traps" or convert to gas
power. Details of how the scheme might operate are now
being considered and proposals for the operation of the
scheme will be issued shortly.
6. The transport sector is the fastest growing source of
carbon dioxide emissions. Targets for reducing emissions
of greenhouse gases will be discussed at an international
conference at Kyoto in December. The Government strongly
endorses the EU negotiating position, to ask for other
developed nations to match its proposed cut in emissions by
15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. The Government will
consult after Kyoto about the measures it intends to take
to meet its climate change target. In the light of the
outcome of Kyoto, and of the review of the National Air
Quality Standards, the Chancellor will return to transport
issues in the Spring Budget.
HM TREASURY PRESS OFFICE
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