The CPA is the largest trade association for the plant-hire sector in the UK, representing over 1,900 companies who are responsible for 85% of the construction plant used in the UK.

In the letter to the Chancellor, the CPA urges the Treasury to consider four key areas in the Autumn Budget, namely:

• Commit to a timetable for extending the now permanent Full Expensing Allowance, to every aspect of the construction plant-hire industry:
• Extend the 2022 cut in fuel duty for two years, given increased global uncertainty due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine:
• Temporarily reintroduce the rebate for HVO to the construction industry for at least the next two years:
• Explore the feasibility of a trial scrappage scheme for NRMM (Non-Road Mobile Machinery) operators operating in Freeport zones, with a view to widening the scheme on a national basis, whilst engaging properly with the plant-hire sector to set realistic goals on the phasing out of fossil fuelled machinery.

Steve Mulholland, CPA chief executive officer, said: “The Budget is an opportunity for the government to provide the stability and certainty, through consistent workflows, that the plant-hire sector needs to invest in new equipment and technologies. While it is encouraging to see announcements on house building and planning reform, construction’s absence from the government’s industrial strategy was notable.

“We can only drive lasting and sustained economic growth by updating and improving our infrastructure. This means making long-term decisions and having the commitment to stick with them. This can only happen with the efforts of the UK’s plant-hire sector. We urge the Treasury to take on board the recommendations in our submission and work with CPA members in helping achieve these aims.

“If the government is committed to delivering economic growth and increasing business investment, the Chancellor should resist calls to scrap the freeze in Fuel Duty. CPA members continue to operate their businesses on very tight margins and any increase in additional costs will have an adverse impact on investment in the short-medium term. Oil prices remain volatile and such a move would penalise workers and the businesses that employ them.”