Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing an independent watchdog for fuel pump pricing.

BEIS monitors the fuel supply market and publishes weekly national average pump prices. BEIS analysis shows that crude oil prices are the main drivers of changes in pump prices and both rises and falls in crude oil prices are passed through to consumers over the course of 6-7 weeks.

A competitive market ensures that road fuel prices stay as low as possible. This framework delivers to the UK pre-tax prices below the average in Europe for both petrol and diesel. Our assessment is that a new regulator is not justified.