Mileage rates: Westminster has workers running on empty
For some time now, I've been calling on the UK Government to increase HMRC's Approved Mileage Allowance Payments.
These rates were last increased in 2011 and have failed to keep up with inflation, the price of fuel, rising insurance premiums, and the cost of car maintenance.
People who use their own vehicles for work or volunteering are being left severely out of pocket, and it's time for the UK Government to stop ignoring this issue.
I have raised this a number of times with the UK Government but they have so far failed to take action. The video below is from December 2022, when I brought up the serious impact that these frozen rates are having on a local community transport organisation.
Rishi Sunak has been branding himself as the champion of motorists, but in reality as Prime Minister and as Chancellor he's not been willing to take the action that workers have been shouting out for.
This week, I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, to tell him he needs to do the right thing and increase mileage rates in his Autumn Statement.
Read my letter below.
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London SW1A 2HQ
Monday 21 August 2023
Dear Chancellor,
HMRC mileage rates have been stagnant for over a decade. Meanwhile, the cost of motoring has increased significantly. As such, I am writing to you to ask that you increase Approved Mileage Allowance Payments in your Autumn Statement.
Fuel prices have been highly volatile, peaking at 191.55 pence per litre of petrol and 199.22 pence per litre of diesel in July last year according to National Statistics. Although fuel prices had been slowly falling over the past few months, they have seen a sharp increase in recent weeks. Road fuel price statistics published by the UK Government show average retail pump prices for both petrol and diesel have increased by around 5 pence per litre over the past four weeks. Additionally, since the last time that mileage rates were increased back in 2011, costs of car maintenance and insurance have increased significantly.
I have brought this issue up in the House of Commons on a number of occasions, in particular citing the negative impact of these unchanged rates on a local community transport organisation which struggles to recruit volunteers as a direct consequence. Because the UK Government has ignored my calls, this organisation and countless others are suffering.
I have also been contacted by a large number of public service workers in my constituency, who have written in support of a campaign by UNISON to have mileage allowances raised to 63.4 pence per mile, the 10,000 mile cap removed, and a commitment to a quarterly review of rates in line with Advisory Fuel Rates introduced. They are some of the very key workers we all applauded during the pandemic yet they are now struggling to fuel their cars.
When George Osborne increased mileage allowances in 2011, he noted that they had not increased at all since 2002 and remarked that this made "those who depend on their car for work increasingly worse off." If this were the case after 9 years without increase, then you cannot continue to overlook the fact that rates have now stalled for 12 years.
The Prime Minister is currently styling himself as a champion of motorists, telling the Telegraph newspaper, "I just want to make sure people know that I'm on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them." Given my calls for mileage rates to be increased have fallen on deaf ears in Downing Street, I suggest a reduction in such rhetoric until the government is actually willing to take this overdue action.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours sincerely,
David Linden MP
Member of Parliament for Glasgow East
