§ Mr. Neubertasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what is the current percentage of petrol sales made by filling stations owned by petrol companies; how this relates to the recorded views of the Monopolies Commission on the subject; and what conclusions she has reached in her review of the present price-cutting campaigns.
Mr. Alan WilliamsI understand that the Director-General of Fair Trading has obtained information about sales of petrol through retail outlets, including company-owned filling stations, in the course of his review of the undertakings given by the oil companies following the Monopolies Commission's report on the supply of petrol to retailers, and that he intends to publish this information in due course.
The Price Commission has been looking into petrol retailers' margins. Its interim report contained an addendum about price-cutting, but it would not be right for me to anticipate the conclusions of its final report.