No10 urges 'profiteering' petrol firms to pass on 5p fuel duty cut

Ministers threaten to ‘name and shame’ petrol firms amid claims some are STILL ‘profiteering’ by failing to pass on Rishi Sunak’s 5p fuel duty cut

  • Experts have warned that petrol firms are profiteering from the energy crisis 
  • They’ve kept nearly half of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 5p fuel duty cut, it emerges
  • Downing St says drivers ‘rightly expect’ retailers to pass on the cut at forecourts 

Downing Street today did not rule out naming and shaming petrol firms that are not passing on the 5p per litre fuel duty cut to hard-pressed motorists.

Number 10 revealed Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will again write to retailers after it emerged they had kept nearly half of the fuel duty cut after it was introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 23 March.

It has led to claims they are ‘fleecing’ motorists and ‘profiteering’ from the global fuel crisis.

The RAC found petrol firms are taking on average 2p more in profit per litre of fuel sold than they did before the Chancellor reduced the duty earlier this year.

With motorists buying about three-and-a-half billion litres of fuel a month, the research suggested that supermarkets and other petrol retailers may be making extra profits of about £7million a month.

Downing Street said the public ‘rightly expect’ retailers and others in the industry to pass on the fuel duty cut at petrol station forecourts.

Number 10 did not rule out naming and shaming those firms that were not passing on the cut, and also kept open the option of flagging wholesale prices to motorists so they can compare them against retail prices.

Figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy showed the average price of a litre of diesel at UK forecourts reached a new record high of 179.7p on Monday.

The average price of petrol on Monday was 165.1p per litre, which is narrowly below the record of 165.4p set on March 21 – two days before the Chancellor implemented the 5p fuel duty cut.

The RAC found petrol firms are taking on average 2p more in profit per litre of fuel sold than they did before the Chancellor reduced the duty earlier this year

Downing Street today said the public ‘rightly expect’ retailers and others in the industry to pass on the fuel duty cut at petrol station forecourts

Asked about claims of profiteering by petrol firms, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The public rightly expect retailers and others in the supply chain to pass on the fuel duty cut at the forecourts.

‘It’s the biggest cut ever on all fuel duty rates and can mean big savings for families.

‘We know that a number of retailers – big supermarkets, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s – are passing on the cuts and we will raise this with other petrol retailers.

‘The Business Secretary will be writing to the industry again to remind them of their responsibilities here.

‘So they should be in no doubt about the need to make sure that everyone is passing on these cuts on the forecourt.’

Both Mr Kwarteng and Mr Sunak previously wrote to fuel retailers in March to urge them to immediately pass on the fuel duty cut at forecourts once it was announced. 

The PM’s spokesman today said he would not ‘pre-empt’ what further action might be taken should some firms continue to not pass on the cut in full.

He added: ‘What we have seen is a number of retailers have stepped up and made sure they are passing on the cuts to forecourts.

‘There may be some who are not doing that. We will have urgent discussions with those that aren’t meeting their responsibilities.’

In the month before Rishi Sunak’s announcement, the average profit margin was 9p a litre for petrol and 6p for diesel. But this has risen to 11p for unleaded petrol and 8p for diesel.

The RAC compared the average wholesale price of petrol and the retail price on forecourts before and after the duty cut.

In the month before Mr Sunak’s announcement, the average profit margin was 9p a litre for petrol and 6p for diesel.

But this has risen to 11p for unleaded petrol and 8p for diesel.

Tory MP Robert Halfon, who campaigned for the fuel duty cut, told The Times: ‘These companies are fleecing motorists and seem to be the only people doing well out of the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis.

‘It is time the Government set up a pump-watch regulator.’

Simon Williams, fuel expert at the RAC, said: ‘With oil trading above $110 a barrel and the pound down to $1.2, it now looks inevitable that petrol will hit a new average price record in the coming days, spelling yet more misery for drivers.

‘While March’s 5p-a-litre duty cut is making a difference, it’s not proved to be helping as much as the Government had hoped which means there’s little to prevent prices going even higher. 

‘In the meantime drivers continue to pay 28 to 30p in VAT on every litre they buy, and these amounts will only increase the higher petrol and diesel prices go.

‘Arguably, VAT on fuel is proving to be the Treasury’s own windfall.’

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: ‘The chancellor was trying to be generous and give drivers something back with the 5p cut in duty but unfortunately that hasn’t been reflected at the pumps.

‘Time and time again we see the “feather and rocket” effect, where global prices go up and overnight they’re reflected at the pumps.  

‘When it’s the other way round, it takes an awful lot longer. In some countries they make it mandatory to flag the wholesale price so motorists can see if the retail price reflects it.’

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey accused the Government of ‘sitting on its hands’ and called on Boris Johnson to haul petrol retailers into Downing Street ‘to grill them on why the fuel duty cut hasn’t been passed on’.

‘Ministers need to act now to tackle this petrol profiteering and slash taxes to put money back into people’s pockets,’ he added.

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