Richard has signed a letter along with other Conservative MPs representing rural constituencies to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requesting that they launch an investigation into the pricing practices of the heating oil supply market with a particular focus on price gouging in light of the Iran conflict, local monopolies and lack of price transparency and systematic overcharging of customers on automatic delivery schemes. The letter can be read here.
Richard Fuller MP said:
With 9% of households in North Bedfordshire using oil central heating, I was very happy to add my name to a letter sent to the CMA to warn of a number of issues affecting those who have no option but to use oil to heat their homes.
Regrettably since the start of the conflict in the Middle East we have seen price gouging and excessive profiteering from a number of firms which has exacerbated existing problems caused by local supply monopolies and the systematic overcharging of customers on automatic delivery schemes.
The government has committed to financial support for those most in need but Shadow Secretary of State for Energy, The Rt. Honourable Claire Coutinho MP summed up the illogical position of the government perfectly:
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑏𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 - 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑏𝑦 20% 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠’ 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑝 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐿𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟’𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑥 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 - 𝑡𝑎𝑥 ℎ𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝐸𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 £25 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑎𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑎.”
