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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) large fuel firms and (b) other stakeholders on the impact of the rise in the cost of living.

The Government understands that fuel prices are an important component of UK household and business expenditures and is sympathetic to the impact of domestic fuel costs on UK consumers.

BEIS Ministers are in regular contact with the fuel industry at all levels and have made it clear operators should do everything they can to reduce the cost to end users.

The Government has asked the Competition and Markets Authority to conduct an urgent review of the fuel market, as well as a longer-term market study under the Enterprise Act 2002, to explore whether the retail fuel market has adversely affected consumer interests.