Proposed extension of the rural fuel rebate scheme: call for information

The rural fuel rebate pilot scheme offers a five pence per litre discount on pump prices and currently applies to the Scottish islands and the Isles of Scilly. At the 2012 Autumn Statement the government announced that it was considering whether to seek EU approval for an extension of the scheme to other remote parts of the UK that are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands.

To support this work we want to make sure that we have the best possible data on the UK’s retail fuels market in remote rural areas. This is why the government is giving fuel retailers a further opportunity to submit information to the Treasury as part of its plan to extend the island fuel discount to mainland rural areas.

The supplementary call for information, which will last for four weeks, is designed to allow retailers which didn’t submit data as part of the original call for information, which closed on 4 September 2013, a second opportunity to respond. The government aims to submit its application to the European Commission in January.

The current rural fuel rebate recognises the fact that pump prices on the islands are particularly high when compared with the UK average, due to the cost of transporting and distributing fuel in the isolated communities. Any extension of the scheme would look to provide support to other remote areas of the UK that experience high pump prices for similar reasons.

We are inviting fuel retailers in the areas listed and whose prices are at or above the levels given, to fill out the detailed price spreadsheet provided. We are also requesting supporting records to enable verification of the data. This information will only be used in the context of the extension of the rebate scheme.