With the eyes of the UK Fleet and Company Car world fixed keenly on Phillip Hammond's Autumn Budget it was a case of No News is Not So Good News....

Remember the times when the UK Government would announce company car tax rates 5 years ahead?

This allowed Fleet Operators and Company Car Drivers to plan their next vehicle choice strategically given most company cars will be on 3 or 4 year contracts, as a result drivers migrated to lower emitting vehicles and overall C02 output declined, a win for drivers and reduced environmental impact.

Those days seem like a distant memory now, with the recent WLTP (NEDC) impact and government BIK tax banding changes Company Car tax has increased significantly in recent years and months and now we are in a position where any driver with a contract ending after 2021, hundreds of thousands of drivers, does not know what their tax position will be from April 2021 onwards.

In addition any drivers now selecting a new vehicle will be in the same position, no clarity beyond the next 2 and a half years, its not clear how this is supposed to drive overall Company Vehicle strategy which previously seemed to be based on reducing total emissions.

Any wonder many drivers are simply opting out of Company Car schemes, taking their Cash Allowances and signing up for Personal Contract Hire deals instead?

For Fleet Operators we will expect to see more delayed decision making as we wait and see what the Finance Bill brings and potentially waiting till Spring 2019.

Quite how this supports the Government's Road to Zero Strategy isn't known at this stage.

OK we'll take this one!

This will be allocated to local authorities this financial year to repair damaged roads, and invest in keeping bridges open and safe, time will tell if this is enough but its a step in the right direction.

Sounds big!

From Transport perspective this is a "Boost to funding for local transport across England, announcing a further £770 million for the Transforming Cities Fund, creating a £90 million Future Mobility Zones fund so local areas can trial new ways of providing transport services".

Metro Mayors in 6 locations, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West of England, West Midlands, and Tees Valley will split £240m for Transport Investment.

OK so this wasn't announced in the Autumn Budget as they had dropped the bombshell 2 weeks ago, the Grants for PHEVs would be ending on 9th November 2018 and the Grants for Electric vehicles would reduce by £1,000 to £3,500.

Not surprisingly this produced a surge in demand and all available grants were taken so the new rules are now in place, no grants for PHEVs.

We were hoping the Budget Statement might reference this or provide other initiatives to support the Road to Zero strategy, sadly not, not even bringing forward the 2% BIK rate for Electric Vehicle (EVs) from 2020.