'Transport poverty' rising - RAC

THE LEAST WELL-OFF families are slipping further into "transport poverty", according to an RAC Foundation survey.

The poorest car-owning households spent at least 31% of their disposable incomes on buying and running a vehicle in 2012, the foundation said, up from 27% the year before.

The figures, based on data obtained from the Office for National Statistics, showed that in 2012 the poorest families had a maximum weekly expenditure of £167, of which £51.40 went on a car.

This car spending included £16.40 for fuel, £9.50 on insurance and £6.10 for repairs and servicing.

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "These figures are definitive. They give the official picture of the financial sacrifices being made by the UK's poorest families to remain mobile.

"Even though there has been some relief at the pumps in recent months and reported falls in insurance prices, it will have done little to ease the burden on those already struggling to make ends meet."

He went on: "While record numbers of people now commute by car, including more than half of workers in the most deprived areas of the country, this data shows the cost of transport is a big hurdle to taking up employment.

"For the poorest car owners there is little opportunity to reduce their motoring costs further. They will already be driving as little as they can and will have cut back on things like maintenance.

"Nor are they likely to be able to afford to swap their car for a newer model with better fuel economy and reliability."

Prof Glaister added: "Before tax we have some of the cheapest petrol and diesel prices in Europe but when you add in fuel duty and VAT the picture changes dramatically.

"The Chancellor rightly points out that he has frozen fuel duty since March 2011 yet almost 60% of the pump price still goes into his pocket."

By Peter Woodman, Press Association