We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reduce Fuel duty to bring fuel prices back to an acceptable level.”
Details of Petition:
“We the undersigned petition the government to lower the current levels of taxation on fuels within all UK territories. Petrol, Diesel, Heating Oil and Gas by at least 30% The current cost is unsustainable to the average family. I myself drive 60 miles per day to work and home again and can not maintain this level of spending (even in our current diesel car) The fuel prices in the UK are simply ridiculous the fault in this case does not lay with the fuel companies it is completely the governments over taxing the hard working people in the United Kingdom. This petition is not the same as http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/FuelDuty99 we are calling for the reduction of all fuel prices Petrol, Diesel and Home heating Fuel and Gas among others.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
In response to the concerns of many people about high fuel prices, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has decided that there will be no increase n fuel duty this year. As a result of this decision, main road fuel duty rates have remained frozen at 50.35 pence per litre since October 2007. Duty rates for alternative road fuels and rebated oils have also been frozen.
Successive decisions by the Government not to increase fuel duty mean that it is now 17 per cent lower in real terms than in 1999. Had the fuel duty rate increased in line with inflation since then, it would now be 61 pence per litre. Had it increased in line with the previous 3% escalator (which was abolished by the Government in 1999), it would now be almost 79 pence per litre.
In addition to keeping main road fuel duty rates down, the two most common types of heating fuel - that is kerosene and Liquified Petroleum Gas destined for non-road use - are not subject to fuel duty at all.
Recent high prices are therefore the result not of fuel duty increases made by the Government, but of sharp rises in world commodity prices, especially the price of crude oil. This has almost doubled over the past year, and reached a real-terms record high of $146 per barrel in July.
This has inevitably had significant knock-on effects on retail prices, which the Government is committed to taking into account when considering decisions on fuel duty.
As for the price of gas, this is not connected to the fuel duty regime (as gas is not subject to fuel duty), but has also risen in the last year in response to increases in the price of gas on world markets.
Prices are thus a matter for retailers and their suppliers, and the Government believes that the consumer is best served by the operation of open competition between companies, subject to UK competition law under the Competition Act 1998.
The Government continues to prioritise tackling the underlying causes and impacts of high energy prices in international discussions with our EU, G7/8 and G20 partner countries. The Prime Minister recently led a delegation of Government and business leaders to the Middle East to discuss energy and the economy with oil-producing states.
To build on the progress made at the Jeddah Energy Meeting in June, the UK will be hosting an international Summit of producers and consumers in London on 19 December to take forward the work to address inefficienciesin the international oil market. This will focus on improving theinvestment climate for new oil supply, enhancing market transparency and energy efficiency as well as the development of alternative energy sources, with the aim of reducing prices for consumers.
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