Road fuel prices

That this House notes with concern the persistently high and variable road fuel prices faced by drivers across the United Kingdom; further notes the Competition and Markets Authority findings that prices remain significantly above levels seen before the conflict in the Middle East, alongside passive pricing strategies by some retailers that have failed to promptly pass on reductions in wholesale prices to motorists; recognises that rural communities are particularly exposed to high fuel costs, where limited public transport alternatives and greater distances to travel leave households with little choice but to pay elevated prices at the pump; stresses that rural households continue to face wider and unrelenting cost-of-living pressures, including a 4% increase in the Ofgem energy price cap from October and rocketing fertiliser and red diesel prices for farmers after a summer of extreme weather; believes that additional targeted support must be provided to vulnerable consumers while fuel retailers continue to benefit from historically high margins; calls on the Government to introduce immediate relief by cutting fuel duty by 10p per litre and to strengthen enforcement to ensure that reductions in wholesale prices are fully and swiftly passed on to motorists; and urges the Government to expand the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme to additional rural communities facing disproportionately high fuel costs.