Petrol drivers are facing 20p per mile charges at the start of Andy Burnham's time as Prime Minister. While petrol and diesel has shot up in price since the conflict in the Middle East, and then cooled off when fighting appeared to end, the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran has seen the price rising again recently, albeit not to the same peaks as earlier this year.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham will need to keep an eye on the crisis and its impact on drivers. Right now, at the start of his term as PM, the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol is currently 154.89p per litre, and diesel now set at 170.98p, according to the RAC.
Average Fuel Economy and Cost Per Mile
The average fuel economy of UK petrol cars is 36mpg according to car dealership Colin Appleyard, though that can change quite a bit depending on what you drive and how old it is. But taking the average with the new price per litre for petrol today, July 23, it now costs 20p per mile to run a petrol car, according to Fuel-Economy.co.uk calculators, but not including any other costs such as maintenance. This is a 3p per mile increase from January, when petrol was just 134.97p per litre and diesel just 142.96p.
Fuel Finder Service Launched
In April, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched a new page for its Fuel Finder service which allows motorists to compare the cheapest fuel prices near them and is expected to save an average of £40 a year for drivers. It said: "Drivers should not have to guess whether they are being overcharged, which is why the government introduced Fuel Finder at the start of this year to make it easier to see which stations are cheapest locally and take business away from the priciest pumps."
"By putting power back in the hands of drivers to see what petrol stations are charging, Fuel Finder could save households who own a car an average of £40 a year. Drivers should continue filling up as normal, and with Fuel Finder now available on an increasing number of apps and websites, they will be able to see where the cheapest deals are at a tap of their fingers, helping to encourage competition and keep costs down."
Fuel Duty and VAT Impact
Of that 20p per mile, an estimated 6p per mile is made up of fuel duty. Motoring research charity, the RAC Foundation, estimated that rises in pump prices since the conflict in the Middle East began on February 28 have led to motorists paying £3 billion more for diesel and just over £1 billion more for petrol. The figures are based on average daily pump price rises and last year's fuel consumption rate.
The analysis also shows that the additional VAT received by the Treasury because fuel is more expensive has reached almost £670 million. VAT on road fuel is charged at 20% on top of the combined price of the product and fuel duty, with the latter standing at nearly 53p per litre. Now ex-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in May that a planned rise in fuel duty from September 1 has been scrapped until at least the end of the year, a policy which will now be inherited by new PM Andy Burnham.
