Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on critical mineral production of ending of the red diesel rebate in April 2022.

Following consultation in 2020, the Chancellor confirmed at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. This will more fairly reflect the negative environmental impact of the emissions they produce and help to ensure that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternatives.

The Government did not believe that the cases made by sectors that will not retain their red diesel entitlement outweighed its environmental objectives. The Government recently announced the £40 million Red Diesel Replacement Competition to support the development and demonstration of low carbon alternatives to red diesel for the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors.

Going forward, the Government will publish a UK Critical Minerals strategy in 2022, setting out its approach to securing technology-critical minerals and metals.