Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the Government has frozen fuel duty for the sixth year in a row – something he claims will save the average driver £75 per year and a typical “small business with a van” £270 annually.
 
This means that fuel duty will continue to be frozen at 57.85p per litre, with fuel costs for a Ford Transit 2.2 diesel standing at £12 less per tank that they would be under fuel escalator plans in place before 2010 had gone ahead – and pump prices 18p per litre lower than they would have been. This move is claimed to save motorists £440m in 2016-17 and between £435m and £450m every year to 2020-21.
 
Explaining the move Osborne stated: “Families paid the cost when oil prices rocketed, they shouldn’t be penalised when oil prices fall.” According to the chancellor, this comes in a year where petrol prices have plummeted, though he acknowledges that fuel costs still make up “a significant part of household budgets and weigh heavily on small firms”.