§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what access criteria he uses for determining whether(a) remote and (b) rural areas are adequately served by petroleum distributors; and how these criteria are employed. [144653]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe distribution of petroleum products is a commercial matter for individual companies. Local planning authorities can encourage the provision of developments such as petrol stations through the local plan, but it is for private developers to bring such proposals forward.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he takes to ensure that pricing policies of petrol wholesalers do not disadvantage independent retailers. [144655]
§ Mrs. LiddellUnder UK competition law, it is the responsibility of the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) to investigate allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and possible abuses of market power. The DGFT can act if pricing levels are the result of anti-competitive behaviour but he has no powers to act in relation to prices as such. On 21 November, the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) announced the findings of his inquiry into wholesale petrol and diesel prices. He said that a combination of high world oil prices and public pressure on UK retail prices had resulted in a squeeze on diesel and petrol margins in recent weeks, rather than anti-competitive behaviour on the part of the major oil companies.
The DGFT said the Office of Fair Trading will continue to monitor the UK motor fuels market very closely and will not hesitate to take action if it finds that firms in the industry are deliberately damaging competition.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of motor fuels was marketed by(a) each of the major suppliers, (b) hyper and supermarket chains and (c) independent retailers in each year from 1996. [144656]
§ Mrs. LiddellMy Department collects and collates data from the individual companies that supply petroleum products into the UK market. However, this information is provided under strict commercial confidentiality constraints, and as such, data on individual company market shares cannot be published.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many independent petrol retailers(a) are in operation and (b) have been closed and sealed in each of the last 10 years. [144654]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe Institute of Petroleum's "UK Retail Marketing Survey" (last published in March 2000) shows the total number of UK petrol retail outlets for each of the past 10 calendar years as follows:
546W
Calendar year Petrol retail outlets 1990 19,465 1991 19,247 1992 18,549
Calendar year Petrol retail outlets 1993 17,969 1994 16,971 1995 16,244 1996 14,748 1997 14,824 1998 13,758 1999 13,716