Council fleets are being encouraged to go ‘green’ with a £20M boost to procure lower-emission vehicles, but councils are unhappy that those trialling biofuels are not in line for any of the cash. Transport minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, announced the new fund last week. It is hoped that by using the public sector’s purchasing power the move will kick start the market for lower-carbon vans. But some councils have hit out at the Government for giving with one hand while taking away with the other, because of the high duty on biofuel. Serge Lourie, leader at the London Borough of Richmond on Thames, called the Government’s green credentials a ‘complete sham’ after he was told by the chancellor there were no plans to reduce duty on recycled cooking oil. ‘We have a scheme that’s ready to go here, trials have shown we can recycle locally sourced cooking oil to power our fleet of 300 vehicles,’ he said. ‘But because the Government won’t make a small tax concession on this niche clean fuel that would make this scheme viable, we currently can’t afford to run it. ‘We are convinced this scheme is worth implementing. That is why I am urging the Government to reconsider its position.’ The move was welcomed by Chris Williamson leader of Derby City Council, who said it was a step in the right direction. But he added, a reduction in biofuel duty would be better for Derby, which hopes to have its whole fleet and even city taxis running on biofuels before the end of next year. ‘We know that there are currently some downsides to biofuel such as transporting the fuel and impact on food prices, but we are currently in talks with our local National Farmers’ Union to try and secure a local supply and processing plant. A cut in duty would definitely ease the passage.’ A Department for Transport spokesman confirmed that the new fund was not going towards the use of biofuels as it was ‘not strictly new technology.’ But Mike Fackrell, sustainable development manager at Somerset, said there were many new biofuel initiatives, and that it was seen as the way forward by many authorities. ‘We have looked into producing fuel using wheat, as a lot of the wheat grown is not food standard, so this could also be an avenue that doesn’t have an adverse effect,’ he said.