UK Business and Energy Secretary orders ´urgent review´ over fuel prices

THE UK government has published the letters sent from Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to fuel retailers and the CEO of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over concerns over fuel prices.

The Business and Energy Secretary wrote to fuel retailers in the UK on May 17 calling on them to do everything possible to ensure that drivers are getting a fair deal on fuel prices.

On Saturday, June 11 he wrote to Dr Andrea Coscelli CBE, the Chief Executive of the CMA, instructing an urgent review of the fuel market, following concerns drivers aren’t getting a fair deal for fuel across the country.

In his letter to her, Mr Kwarteng wrote: “Unique circumstances globally, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and economies unlocking after covid, have pushed pump prices up to unprecedented levels. We have taken action to support motorists by cutting fuel duty for petrol and diesel in a £5 billion package.

Despite this action, there remains widespread concern about the pace of the increase in prices at the forecourt and, that prices may not fall as much or as fast as they rise. The British people are rightly frustrated that the £5 billion package does not always appear to have been passed through to forecourt prices and that in some towns, prices remain higher than in similar, nearby towns.

Drivers should be getting a fair deal for fuel across the UK. Healthy competition between forecourts is key to achieving this, with competition working to keep pressure on prices. For these reasons, I am writing to you to ask that the CMA conduct an urgent review of the fuel market.”

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