The 2009 Budget will be held on Wednesday, April 22 at 12.30pm, Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced.

Mr Darling told the House of Commons he would present his Budget statement after the Easter recess.

ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) says that for fleet operators the key items to watch for will be fuel duty trends, any changes to Vehicle Excise Duty rates and groupings, projections for benefit-in-kind and free fuel scale charges, and the final detailed arrangements for the changes to corporation tax/writing down allowances as they apply to company cars.

The unusual late timing for the Budget, which is traditionally held in March, means it will take place after the G20 summit where leaders will discuss how to tackle the global economic crisis.

Costs and other economic factors are rapidly overtaking safety and green issues in the minds of company car decision-makers, according to new research.

The quarterly Company Car Trends survey by GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services, shows that the recession is rapidly changing the fleet agenda.

When asked what would have the greatest influence on fleet decisions in the next 12 months, the 581 fleet decision-makers questioned said:

• Oil and fuel prices - mentioned by 99.3% of respondents and up by 11.7% in the last 12 months
• General economic conditions - mentioned by 98.8% and up 12.2%
• A decline in business - mentioned by 97.1% and up 10.9%

The top three factors of declining influence are:

• Health and safety - mentioned by 83.4% and down 11.5%
• Accident prevention - mentioned by 78.5% and down 11.2%
• Corporate manslaughter legislation - mentioned by 69.1% and down 21.2%
  
  

Gary Killeen, commercial leader at GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services, said: “These statistics show the impact of the recession on fleet thinking. Concerns about money have never been more prevalent - with worries ranging from the general economic picture to specific issues such as oil and fuel prices, which continue to be a concern despite recent falling prices.

Businesses across England could face an eye-watering £3.4 billion bill for using their own car parking spaces.

This monumental cost could become a reality if councils decide to apply for the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL), according to the AA and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Nottingham City Council is waiting on a final decision from Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon for permission to introduce the charge. If the green light is given, the council would be the first in the country to introduce the measure.

A recent Department for Transport consultation into the WPL heightens the risk of the scheme’s national roll out as it will enable councils across England to apply for take up of the scheme. The consultation ends on March 5.

The WPL will require all businesses to register workplace parking spaces. However, businesses with 10 spaces or more, will also suffer a financial strain because each parking space will have to be paid for.

The levy will start at £185 in 2010, but will rise to £350 by 2014 (using the blueprint from Nottingham). Companies will either have to have the pay the tax, knock down car parks and rip out parking places or charge their employees to park at work.

The BCC has calculated that if every eligible council covered by the consultation adopted the WPL, then businesses will be left with costs amounting to £3.4 billion.

AA president Edmund King said: “A workplace parking levy is just a ‘tax on work’.
The last thing that employees, and indeed employers, want is a tax on work in the current financial and economic climate.

“Many employees who work shifts or live in areas without adequate public transport have to drive - the WPL will place an unfair burden on people just trying to go about their daily lives.”

The BCC has launched a petition against the WPL which the AA is encouraging businesses and drivers to sign up to. It can be accessed at http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/nostealthtaxonparking

Britain’s business car fleets are continuing to slash their carbon dioxide emissions and reduce mileages, according to the latest research from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association.

BVRLA leasing members, who operate a combined fleet of nearly two million cars, saw the average CO₂ emissions of vehicles coming on to fleets in 2008 fall to 149.9 g/km. In 2007 the average contract hire vehicle had emissions of 157.4 g/km.

The reductions obtained by BVRLA members outstrip that seen across new car registrations as a whole. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, average new car emissions in 2008 fell to 158 g/km.

The average contract mileage figure reported by BVRLA members also showed a sharp fall, from 21,643 in 2007 to 19,617 in 2008. This suggests, says the organisation, that the recent high fuel prices, which peaked last summer, have forced people to cut down on both business and private mileage.

BVRLA chief executive John Lewis said: “These figures show that drivers are choosing low emitting cars to optimise their personal tax, while companies are encouraging them to take more fuel-efficient cars to save on running costs.

“The average car coming on to fleets now has a fuel consumption of around 50 mpg, which can only be good news when you consider that these vehicles will be feeding into the used market in a few years.”

But, despite the significant reduction in average emissions seen during 2008, the BVRLA predicts that the momentum is unlikely to continue through 2009. The recent trend recession-led towards extending contracts is likely to have an impact, as is a potential shortage in availability of the lowest emission new cars, says the organisation.

Companies and fleet managers are being urged to ensure that company cars are serviced at a BSI Kitemark garage to eradicate any potential dangers.

Company car drivers need to know that their vehicles are being serviced and maintained correctly, according to BSI Product Services. And fleet managers can be reassured that by using a Kitemark garage the risk to poor repairs has been lowered, not just the cost, says the organisation.

To obtain the Kitemark garages must address key areas: customer service, customer satisfaction, customer facilities - such as waiting areas, staff competencies - the quality of workmanship in the garage, their ability to use the equipment available, technical inspection and importantly fair and transparent billing.

The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 came into force on January 16. The Act increases penalties and provides courts with greater sentencing powers for those who break health and safety law.

Therefore managers who turn a blind eye to managing the risks of driving for businesses, for example not maintaining the company’s business cars regularly and not replacing car tyres when they are illegal to save costs, will be more severely punished.

Eric Friend, certification manager, BSI Product Services, the testing and certification arm of the BSI Group, said that to avoid the risks fleet managers should choose a Kitemark certified garage:

“By inspecting garages prior to accepting them into any scheme you assess their customer arrangements and provision of the services they offer, but the Kitemark scheme does go further by looking at the equipment, site facilities, staff competence and training, each garage is inspected and all gaps/errors non-compliance to the standards have to be addressed before they gain their Kitemark licence.

“Therefore when the car is taken to a BSI Kitemark garage, the garage knows what has to be done and how to do it correctly as this has already been demonstrated in an inspection to BSI, which is completely independent from the motor industry.”