First Minister joins call for delaying of fuel duty rise

Leaders of the devolved administrations have issued a joint call to the UK Government to delay a planned rise in fuel duty as part of wider demands to protect the economy.

First Minister Alex Salmond signed up to the declaration with leaders from Wales and Northern Ireland.

They called for "urgent action" to invest in infrastructure, address access to finance, and counteract rising fuel and transport costs.

Mr Salmond, the SNP leader, was in London as part of the Joint Ministerial Committee's first meeting of the year.

He said: "The UK Government's unprecedented cuts to public spending present a significant risk to economic recovery and are putting pressure on families, communities and businesses across the country.

"Today, the leaders of the UK's devolved administrations have joined together to call for urgent measures to prevent economic decline."

The declaration describes a fragile economic recovery, highlighting the recent dip in UK gross domestic product.

It continues: "We call on the UK Government to take urgent action to address the rising price of fuel by postponing the scheduled duty increase in April 2011.

"This would help stimulate the wider economy by protecting motorists, road hauliers and in particular remote rural communities from high and volatile fuel costs."

Chancellor George Osborne has faced pressure from motorists and political critics on the issue. Last month he said he was looking at the possibility of overriding the 1p rise in fuel duty due.

The declaration adds: "While we recognise that budgetary responsibility is vital in returning the public finances to a sustainable footing, we continue to believe that the best way to achieve this is through the promotion of economic growth. This must be our overriding priority at this stage."

The leaders warned that cutting capital budgets puts growth in the construction sector "in jeopardy".

And they said more must be done to give small and medium-sized businesses access to "affordable funding".

The Scottish Government was asked by a Holyrood committee last month to explain how its own budget supports the "core purpose" of increasing economic growth.