Budget: what changed for fuel and energy
Last updated .
This page is prepared in advance and is not yet live. It holds the figures as they stand before the Budget, so that when rates change it can be published immediately with the correct before-and-after numbers. Fuel duty currently stands at 52.95p a litre, on an average pump price of 172.0p.
Where things stand before the Budget
| Figure | Now | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel duty, petrol and diesel | 52.95p | 21 September 2026 |
| Average petrol price | 172.0p | 21 September 2026 |
| Tax per litre of petrol | 81.6p | 21 September 2026 |
| Tax on a 55-litre fill | £44.89 | 21 September 2026 |
| Energy price cap | £1,723 | 1 October to 31 December 2026 |
| EV pay-per-mile, from 1 April 2028 | 3p/mile | 22 September 2026 |
What to update when rates change
- Update
config/manual.json: the duty rate, the freeze end date and the timeline entry. - Add the announcement to the fuel duty timeline with its year.
- Run the pipeline; the weekly DESNZ series will pick up the new rate on its next publication.
- Remove
noindexfrom this page inbuild/archives.tsand rebuild. - Check the IndexNow ping fired: it is in the deploy job's log.
Until DESNZ publishes a week at the new rate, the site keeps showing the old one with its real date, which is correct: that is what drivers were actually charged that week.