Approved Mileage Allowance Payment Rate

Anum Qaisar Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2023 Westminster Hall

[Ms Anum Qaisar (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma. I thank the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) for introducing the petition, and other hon. Members for their contributions.

Since the start of this cost of living crisis, many of my constituents have been in contact with me to express their concerns about the need to raise the approved mileage allowance payment rate to help tackle the impact of rising fuel prices and maintenance costs. As the hon. Member for Darlington (Peter Gibson) mentioned, it is vital that we see reform and change.

As the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton) highlighted, the AMAP has not changed in over a decade. In fact, when it was last updated in 2011 the rate was set at 45p. The petition suggests that this amount be raised to 60p to help tackle rising fuel costs and the impact of inflation. Since the rate was last revised in 2011 costs have drastically increased, leaving much of the financial burden on drivers. It is more expensive to run a personal vehicle now in comparison to 2011. Although fuel prices have decreased from their all-time high of nearly £2 a litre in July 2022, with prices now hovering around £1.43 a litre, they are still 16% higher than the price when the rate was set in 2011. The costs associated with the maintenance and insurance of a vehicle are also much higher; they rose by as much as 40% between 2011 and January 2023. Those costs will continue to rise, leaving workers and volunteers worse off.

The failure to raise mileage rates is particularly detrimental to those in the voluntary sector, as we have heard from Members across the House today. I was recently contacted by Getting Better Together Shotts, which is an organisation that aims to improve the education, health and wellbeing of those living across Shotts and the local area. One of the vital services that it provides to the local community is transporting people—predominantly older people—to NHS appointments.

Volunteers can cover thousands of miles in their vehicles, transporting people to get the treatment they require. They provide a vital service in support of the NHS and local authorities. The covid-19 pandemic highlighted how integral they are to our society. It is only correct that those who volunteer are fairly compensated for the use of their cars, and I echo the calls of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Volunteer Scotland that the rates should be raised to give better compensation to those who give back to society.

My friend, the hon. Member for East Lothian (Kenny MacAskill), said that his constituency is not geographically the largest. My constituency of Airdrie and Shotts is the same; it is not particularly large when compared to the constituencies of some of my Scottish colleagues, but it still encompasses some rural areas. It is obvious that those who live in rural areas are more dependent on vehicles to undertake their work. Some constituents have said to me that they have a sense that they are subsidising their employer through using their cars. Those in typically low-wage professions often travel the most for work. Some professionals, such as care professionals, drive many thousands of miles each year as part of their employment. Failing to adequately compensate those professionals leaves many of them out of pocket, especially during a cost of living crisis.

The problem is particularly acute for highland communities. As my colleagues from those constituencies can attest, people there often have to drive many tens of thousands of miles per year. That means that those working in some of our most rural constituencies in Scotland are racking up larger mileage and being left out of pocket.

The hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) made a crucial point when he drew on the impact of the cost of living crisis. I would gently go one step further, and argue that the impact of failing to raise mileage rates speaks to a larger issue of the mismanagement of the economy by this Government. There is a failure to recognise the impact of their actions on constituents across the four nations. Volatility in fuel prices now seems to be a regular feature of our lives. The announcement today that fuel prices are 6p per litre higher than they should be due to weaker competition between supermarkets is only the latest example of that. The lack of action from the UK Government has allowed supermarkets to artificially increase prices, and that expense rise completely offsets the 5p fuel allowance introduced last year.

Workers and volunteers are relying on mileage rates. They are faced with not only the impact of volatile fuel prices but the Government’s inability to get a handle on inflation, with the UK having the worst rate in the G7. Despite the Prime Minister’s promise to halve inflation, the UK looks set to miss its target. Alongside that, household disposable income continues to fall. This year, it is estimated to decrease by 3.2%, which is on top of a 3.1% fall in the prior year.

By failing to raise mileage rates at the last Budget, the UK Government left employees and volunteers financially worse off. I hope that the Minister will lay out what steps the UK Government are taking to raise mileage rates and address the concerns of those who have signed the petition. We clearly have buy-in from across the Chamber, so let’s get this done.