Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies has welcomed today’s recommendations by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to help ensure more competitive fuel prices for drivers.
In May 2022, the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy wrote to fuel retailers, calling on them to do everything possible to ensure that drivers were getting a fair deal. The Secretary of State subsequently wrote to Dr Andrea Coscelli CBE, the Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), requesting an urgent review of the fuel market, following concerns drivers across the country had not been doing so.
The CMA has today published the final report in its Road Fuel Market Study, and concluded that competition is not working well, with a weakening of competition in retail since 2019.
They are therefore recommending:
- A new fuel finder scheme to enable drivers access to live, station-by-station fuel prices. This should help people find the cheapest fuel and drive down prices. The fuel finder open data scheme will need statutory backing to require fuel retailers to provide up-to-date pricing data and make it available to drivers in an open and accessible format that can be easily used by third party apps such as satnavs or map apps, through a dedicated fuel finder app, or a combination of both.
- A new monitoring body to hold the industry to account. This fuel monitor will ensure ongoing scrutiny of retail prices for petrol and diesel. The fuel monitor will monitor prices and margins on an ongoing basis and recommend further action if competition continues to weaken in the market. As the UK transitions to net-zero, the demand for petrol and diesel will reduce. The fuel monitor will help to understand the impact of this on vulnerable consumers that remain dependent on petrol and diesel for longer, as well as those living in areas with limited choice of fuel stations.
The Government has today accepted the CMA’s recommendations in full. The Minister, Graham Stuart, said he was shocked by the findings and that it was unacceptable that the consumers had been paying more. He also said that it was wrong drivers were not getting a fair deal.
The Government will consult on the design of the open data scheme (“fuel finder”), and market monitoring function this autumn – with changes to the law needed to bring it in. In the interim, the CMA will create a voluntary scheme encouraging fuel retailers to share accurate, up-to-date road fuel prices for publication by August and continue to monitor fuel prices using its existing powers.
The Government will set up a new “fuel monitor” oversight body, as proposed by the CMA, to scrutinise prices. These new powers will be handed to a public organisation yet to be decided, to closely monitor the UK road fuel market, scrutinise prices and alert government if further intervention is needed.
In May, James, sent a letter to the CMA expressing concern at the significant discrepancies in fuel prices and highlighting the financial pressure this is placing on people in the Vale of Clwyd, and across the North Wales and West Cheshire region.
He therefore welcomes today’s news that action is going to be taken to address the issue.
"Having highlighted my concerns with the CMA earlier this year, I very much welcome the recommendations they are proposing and believe they will go a long way to tackling this currently unfair pricing arrangement which is causing a significant financial strain on many households.
“There have been reports of people travelling up to 20 miles out of their way to fill up at cheaper service stations. The recommendations which the CMA have put forward, and the Government’s acceptance of them, would put an end to that. I am pleased that the CMA stand ready to continue to work to address the problems they have identified to make this market deliver better outcomes for people, businesses and the UK economy as a whole.”
The following is the Government response to the report: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rip-off-retailers-to-be-outed-as-government-responds-to-cma-fuel-report--2
CMA findings show that:
- From 2019-22, average annual supermarket fuel margins have increased by 6 pence per litre (PPL).
- Increased margins on diesel across all retailers have cost drivers an extra 13p per litre from January 2023 to the end of May 2023.
- With greater price transparency and shopping around as effectively as possible, the driver of a typical family car could save up to £4.50 a tank within a 5-minute drive.
- Motorway service stations are charging around 20p per litre more for petrol and 15p per litre more for diesel compared to other fuel stations.
To view previous press releases issued by James on fuel price discrepancies, click on the following links:
