Views and concerns sought from members of the public regarding Liquid Fuel Prices- have your say!

As part of the investigation launched by the Office of Fair Trading into the price of liquid fuels in the Isle of Man, the Office is seeking views from members of the public. The investigation is considering the prices being charged for unleaded petrol, high octane petrol products, diesel and red diesel, kerosene and gas oil heating fuels.

A notice has been placed in local newspapers inviting comment from any person or organisation who believes they may have information which is relevant to the investigation.

Comments must be made in writing either by post, email or fax. A comments form has been added to the Office’s website as an additional means by which views can be submitted.

Anyone submitting comments should identify any information that they would wish to remain confidential as relevant information received may be appended to the final report.

The Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading, Bill Henderson MHK, said,

"I have ensured that members of the public, organisations and commercial interests have this valuable chance to put forward views on this important subject that affects everyone, directly or indirectly. This is your chance to contribute to the inquiry.

This investigation will get to the bottom of concerns which have been expressed to the Office and to me personally about this issue. The views expressed may be included (anonymously) in the final report on the investigation when it is produced for the Council of Ministers to consider. Please note, that due to the envisaged high response rate, we will not be able to answer all correspondence, but I can assure people that all valid concerns will be scrutinised. I am hoping that we will receive helpful evidence. We don’t want you to just write in and say – petrol is too expensive – give us details and examples and any evidence you think will assist us."

NOTES

The investigation is being carried out under Section 19 of the Fair Trading Act 1996 which enables the Office of Fair Trading to conduct an investigation into any price which is of major public concern with a view to providing the Council of Ministers with information.

In 2001 the Fair Trading Act was amended to provide an additional stage of the investigation and where the subsequent report finds that particular prices are excessive and against the public interest the Council of Ministers now have powers to make an Order that can either fix prices or require them to be determined in a particular way.

Contact details for comments:-