No change to APD in the Autumn Statement – it remains at £13 for European short-haul return trips
Despite the endless calls, as usual, for cuts in Air Passenger Duty that happen before any budget statement, there is no change in the Autumn Statement to levels of APD – other than a slow annual rise in line with inflation, as has already been happening. The level for standard rate return fares anywhere in Europe is £13 now, and will be £13 next year. The level for longer flights (anything of over 2,000 miles) will be £75 from 1st April 2017, while it is £73 now. There is no APD for children aged under 16. The amount the Treasury expects to get in from APD is around £3.3 billion each year 2017/ 2018 (but that ignores the estimate of somewhere around £10 billion per year that is not paid in, as aviation pays no VAT or fuel duty). In addition the government is to pay £20 million “for the development of alternative aviation and heavy goods vehicle fuels” by 2020/21. Philip Hammond also said that “The Chief Secretary to the Treasury [The Rt Hon David Gauke MP] will chair a new ministerial group that will oversee the delivery of priority infrastructure projects.” This may be because infrastructure is cross departmental, and Ministers from individual departments will have to agree to commit funds (a Minister has responsibility to Parliament for their departmental budget approved by Treasury).
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(APD stays at £13 for short haul Europe, and rises from £73 to £75 for anything further than 2,000 miles, from April 2017. (And up £4 for long haul first class etc, from £146 to £150).
Para 3.28 of https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571556/autumn_statement_2016_print.pdf
” 3.28 Infrastructure performance – The Chief Secretary to the Treasury[he is apparently The Rt Hon David Gauke MP. ] will chair a new ministerial group that will oversee the delivery of priority infrastructure projects. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority will lead a review to identify ways government, working with industry, can improve the quality, cost and performance of UK infrastructure. The review will report in summer 2017.”
This is not something we have heard about before. It may be that The Lord Adonis led group (NIC) was set up by George Osborne leading to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). Theresa May is slowly restoring the accountability structures of government.
Infrastructure is cross departmental. Ministers from individual departments will have to agree to commit funds (a Minister has responsibility to Parliament for their departmental budget
approved by Treasury). Being Ministerial it will have political as well as practical
considerations. However, it is more associated with “how much and where” rather than “what and how”. How it dovetails with existing planning law is not yet apparent.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/infrastructure-and-projects-authority Then there is the National Infrastructure Commission, Chaired by Lord Adonis, and set up in October 2015
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-announces-major-plan-to-get-britain-building
But now, in addition to this, we are to have a “new ministerial group that will oversee the delivery of priority infrastructure projects.”
Rates of APD
2.1 APD rates from 1 April 2017
| Destination Bands and distance from London (miles) | Reduced rate: (for travel in the lowest class of travel available on the aircraft) | Standard rate: (for travel in any other class of travel) | Higher rate: (for travel in aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band A (0 to 2,000 miles) | £13 | £26 | £78 |
| Band B (over 2,000 miles) | £75 | £150 | £450 |
2.2 APD rates from 1 April 2016
| Destination Bands and distance from London (miles) | Reduced rate: (for travel in the lowest class of travel available on the aircraft) | Standard rate: (for travel in any other class of travel) | Higher rate: (for travel in aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band A (0 to 2,000 miles) | £13 | £26 | £78 |
| Band B (over 2,000 miles) | £73 | £146 | £438 |
The tax take from APD is expected, by the Treasury, to be £3.2 in 2016/17; and £3.3 billion in 2017/18; and £3.7 billion in 2019/20