Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to allow public sector employees to sacrifice salary to lease an electric vehicle.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to PQ UIN 25529.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has plans to (a) implement and (b) allow public sector employees to utilise existing private cycle to work style salary sacrifice schemes to (i) lease and (ii) purchase electric vehicles at reduced rates.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is crucial to decarbonising transport and will support growth and productivity across the UK. There are now more than 1 million EVs on our roads. The government has committed to phasing out new cars that rely solely on internal combustion engines by 2030, and that from 2035 all new cars and vans sold in the UK will be zero emission.
Salary sacrifice schemes are not generally permitted in the public sector. This is because salary sacrifice arrangements mean employees and employers pay less income tax and National Insurance on remuneration and do not, therefore represent best value for the exchequer and UK taxpayers as a whole.
However, many public sector employees can and do make use of existing schemes that will likely be accessible to all staff, such as Cycle to Work. Employers are also encouraged to consider other options for encouraging the use of zero emission vehicles in their workforce.