Toby Poston, BVRLA Chief Executive comments: All eyes will – again – be on Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) will be delivered on Wednesday. It is where the Government will outline how it intends to fund its long-term plans. Here, BVRLA Chief Executive Toby Poston, explores what the sector is looking out for.
Huge sums will be pledged to certain departments and projects, while others will fear being left in the lurch. It is a key moment where the Government will send a clear signal of where its priorities lie.
Growth has been the buzzword for the 12 months since this Government came to power. Tomorrow will show us where it believes it can be achieved.
For the BVRLA’s members and the wider fleet sector beyond, the CSR marks a milestone moment.
While the CSR will pledge huge sums over many years, the devil will be in the detail of announcements that will follow from each of the departments involved. They will outline where any funding will be spent. The size of the pot each department has to play with will signal the Government’s intent.
We have been clear that such signals need to show that the UK is ready to back decarbonisation.
The trajectory of the transition relies on support coming now. Through the efforts of the leasing and fleet sectors – backed by targeted support – electric vehicle adoption remains on an upward curve. That curve only gets steeper as deadlines approach and harder-to-switch sectors come into play.
The targets remain at major risk without Government support. This week’s CSR is the opportunity to make that commitment.
Specific examples of where the transition requires support have been shared with the Government by the BVRLA. They include suggestions to:
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Drive demand for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Our #HappyEVafter campaign highlights how this can be done, with a direct focus on measures to create demand for used BEVs. In conjunction with this, there are opportunities to remove barriers to new adoption, such as increasing the threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement
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Support private investment into zero-emission vehicles. The transition will only succeed if government and industry work together. Guaranteeing residual values or introducing funds to support ZEV investment are examples of two levers that could unlock significant growth
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Improve the UK’s charging infrastructure. A great imbalance is growing between those that can charge privately vs those reliant on the public network. Support for fleets to connect to the Grid, encouraging delivery of more cross-pavement solutions, and reducing VAT on public charging would all be effective steps to accelerate adoption.
Growth can be achieved in many ways, something our sector consistently demonstrates. While decarbonisation dominates the discussion, alternative solutions and potentially quicker wins also sit with the Government and await action.
A key example of this is to extend full expensing to rental and leasing. The long-standing exemption finally saw positive progress from the previous Government but is yet to reach a conclusion. The groundwork has been laid and the BVRLA has played an active part in shaping how it would work in a fair and accessible way.
All this leaves the Government with a fistful of cards it can play. Some will deliver immediate success while others will lay the foundations for future growth.
Either way, we need them to start playing them, starting from tomorrow.
