We asked three of our AF colleagues what they hope for – and fear – from the Autumn Budget next month.
“Keep the cap. Every budget there's talk about getting rid of capped fuel duty. I've seen nothing to suggest they're going to do that. We'll have Members ringing up saying, ‘do I need to order a bulk load or fix my fuel for the year?’. But I see nothing to suggest a fuel duty cap change is going to happen.
“I’d love to see a cut to VAT for domestic users as we’re now at the start of heating oil season. If Members encourage their friends and family to buy through Affinity Fuels, our heating oil purchasing business, it bolsters our ability to procure fuel for Members’ farms and other businesses.
“Do something that encourages people to feel confident enough to spend some money and rekindle some development - investment in, for example, property renovation or construction - into their businesses. Actually build some houses. The other side to that, is if they're building them for renting and have to pay tax on income, it's less attractive. The construction sector in this country is on its knees and it'd be great to see something to support it.”
“In the Budget there is not much that will affect electricity prices. But in the coming weeks we will explain to our Members (and their 7,000 sites we procure for) how increases in non-electricity costs such as Climate Change Levy and Standing Charges will affect them.
“I hope for a degree of reality about how much it’s costing us to be green through the grid. We seem to want to disguise it in various different taxes and schemes, for example financing construction of Sizewell C. At the moment it's flawed as it could potentially be cheaper for one of our Members to run a diesel generator for their large business than to be buying green energy on the grid.”
“Bring in measures that make growing food more economically viable. At the beginning of 2025 we heard the Government’s pledge to back British produce by monitoring the amount bought by the public sector. At the time, they were keen to reassure British farmers that they’d make it easier to win their share of the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.
"I’d like to hear how that’s actually working in practice and see home grown produce championed in the public sector, like it is through our Taste AF initiative and in our own café where we’re working hard to use Member grown produce.
"I would also like to see an increase in biofuel allowances from E10 to E20, to create demand, to provide an incentive for Vivergo to restart. This is a vital home for wheat, which has seen a large uptick in plantings, as well as an essential protein source for livestock producers across the country, that is now having to be imported."
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