§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact on the rural economy of recent increases in petrol prices; and if he will make a statement. [129643]
§ Mr. HillThe Government recognise that transport provision is particularly important to people in rural areas because jobs and services are more widely dispersed than in urban areas. Within the 10 Year Plan for transport, we are developing a package of measures to improve public transport in rural areas and we shall be developing our ideas further in the forthcoming Rural White Paper.
We recognise that the car will remain central to rural life, and any substantial increase in motoring costs may have adverse impact on the rural economy. We are therefore carefully monitoring the recent increases in petrol prices. These recent increases have been primarily due to a sharp increase in international gasoline prices caused by the combination of higher crude oil prices and gasoline supply problems, especially in the United States, not the Government's tax policies.