Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier has today called a Westminster Hall debate specifically about unfair fuel prices in Wyre Forest. Responding to his well argued points was Department for Transport Minister Stephen Hammond MP.
The full text of the debate is available online.
In the debate titled "Fuel Prices in Wyre Forest", Mark pointed out that his constituents are doubly penalised: not only must they travel further to work than city-dwellers; but the fuel providers charge more per litre to rural residents. With fewer fuel stations and scarcer public transport, the big fuel retailers face lower competition and so get away with charging higher prices.
The OFT has launched an investigation into fuel pricing and Mark is delighted that this will expose the unfairness.
Speaking after the debate, Mark said, "This is something that I have been working on for 18 months. The inequity of charging my constituents and other rural and semi-rural communities higher prices than their urban cousins must stop. Although it appears that we have had some success, reducing Wyre Forest's premium from 6p per litre to around 1p per litre, we need to ensure that the overpricing doesn't start again. That is why I will not stop until we have stable fairness in the system."
When Mark first started, local prices were around 6p more per litre, but the campaign seems to have met with success with recent local premiums falling to around just 1p.