The Treasury has agreed to look at a voluntary ‘PumpWatch’ code that could make fuel pricing more transparent and fairer for drivers.
Greenlighted by Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick, the new code is now being developed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers in combination with campaign group FairFuel UK and will help shed light on pump price changes and when pump prices rise and fall due to exchange rate and oil price movements.
If the criteria for the code are met, including protecting smaller garages and allowing fairer competition, it will be implemented on a voluntary basis.
The code, which is being developed on the back of a request from Kirstene Hair MP (Angus) to the Chancellor at Treasury Questions, will help resolve the issue over concerns of a ‘rocket and feather’ effect when oil prices either rise or fall and follows years of calls for a fuel price regulator including from FairFuel UK which says it would help end the “perpetual fleecing” of drivers.
Kirstene Hair MP said: “I think this is a good first step towards more transparency and fairness in the system. At the moment, motorists do not have the confidence that they are paying a fair price at the pumps. They see wholesale prices coming down, but they do not see the benefit when they are filling up. I look forward to working with the APPG and FairFuelUK to develop this voluntary code – which I hope leads to a better deal for ordinary motorists.”
Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, added: “Drivers and our supporters will be heartened by the Exchequer Secretary’s willingness to creating an effective way to protect drivers from unwarranted price changes at the pumps. Delighted too, that we have been asked to develop a PumpWatch voluntary pricing code of conduct for the fuel supply chain to morally support. This will only work of course, if the Treasury gets fully behind it and the small independents are not unfairly squeezed.”
