Some important announcements for motorists were made during the budget, we have picked out the top picks which will affect Britain’s motorists in 2017

Urban congestion

A boost for the easing of urban congestion and air pollution, there was also a new pot of money of £690 million made available for English councils to bid for.

Further details on the funding will be announced in due course this year but councils may face bidding for cash to improve local town centres.

Allocating transport spending of £90 million for the North and £23 million for the Midlands was announced in a bid to address bad road areas on the UK’s road network.

Changes for diesel drivers?

A notable absence from Mr Hammond’s speech was any mention of a diesel scrappage scheme – the rumour mill initiative  for tackling the UK’s air pollution problem by its worst offending cars.

Instead, the Budget document hinted at the consideration of a new “tax treatment for diesel vehicles”, that could potentially be unveiled in the Autumn Statement, which could mean owners of diesel vehicles will learn what the Government has planned by the end of the year.

Fuel duty freeze

As expected, The Chancellor confirmed the freeze on fuel duty in the UK remains in force for a seventh successive year at 57.95p.

The freeze saves car drivers roughly £130, and van drivers £350 per annum, at a cost of £850 million to the Treasury.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for cars, vans and motorcycles will increase by the RPI measure of inflation from April 1 for all vehicles registered before 1st April 2017 – although VED rates for hauliers and HGV road users will be frozen for another year.

New cars registered from April 2017 will fall under the new VED matrix which will go ahead as scheduled.

Insurance Premium Tax

There were no further rises announced in the Spring Budget, however motorists will get a rise sting in their car insurance premiums as the standard rate of IPT rises to 12% in June this year, as announced in the Autumn Statement last year.

Road Maintenance 

While some comfort can be taken from the congestion funding, the Chancellor did little to ease put motorists minds at rest with the long-held fears over the current state of our roads, with no funding allocated specifically for preventative measures.

Investment in new technology

The Chancellor had already announced the ring-fencing of a infrastructure and innovation fund, and in his Budget speech more detail was received.

A big win to the motoring sector was the allocation of £270 million for new technologies including driverless vehicles.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that trials are currently underway in East London, where Nissan is undertaking the first test of self-driving cars by a major manufacturer on public roads in the UK.