Author: PA Media

Drivers were hit by “significant increases” in fuel retailers’ margins during the past two months, a new report suggests.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that by the end of October the differences between pump prices and the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel were “significantly above the long-term average”.

A continuation of the trend would “cause concern” about a lack of competition in the sector, the regulator added.

The RAC said the findings were “very disappointing” and demonstrate that “drivers are still being taken advantage of at the pumps”.

The CMA analysed retail spreads for supermarkets, which show the difference between average pump prices and benchmark wholesale costs for fuel.

Retail spreads are likely to be similar to margins, which are based on wholesale cost data provided by individual retailers.

The CMA said: “During September and October … we have seen significant increases in retail spread for both petrol and diesel.”

It added: “Given the link we have observed between retail spreads and retailer fuel margins, the increase in retail spreads in September and October suggests that fuel margins may have also increased.”

The CMA provided detailed figures for supermarket fuel retailers’ margins up to the end of August.

These show the figure for the first eight months of the year was 8.1%, despite a fall in the summer.

That is higher than the six preceding entire years, which ranged from around 4% in 2017 to 7.6% last year.

In July, the CMA recommended retailers provide live pump price information, and a price monitoring body is created.

The Government has pledged to legislate for both measures.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s very disappointing that the CMA has found that major fuel retailers are still taking far bigger margins than they have done in the past, something we have been saying for a long time, as this means drivers are still being taken advantage of at the pumps.

“While supermarket margins may have fallen in the summer, our latest data shows they have more than made up for this since then and are currently taking very large margins.

“We believe the situation is currently worse than ever as the wholesale fuel market is down significantly, yet forecourt prices are falling like the proverbial feather.”

AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “Old habits die hard in the road fuel trade.

“Failure to pass on the full savings from lower wholesale costs to hard-pressed motorists, their families and businesses is unacceptable in a cost-of-living crisis.

“The Government needs to speed up the legislation that creates the statutory fuel price transparency scheme.”

The UK’s four major fuel-selling supermarkets are Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

They were each approached for a comment.

A motorcyclist who filmed himself pulling a wheelie and riding at an estimated 150mph has been given a one-year driving ban after being prosecuted with his own footage.

Jack Godfrey, 24, was stopped by a police officer who began to follow the superbike after noticing the letters on its registration plate were too small to read.

The officer saw Godfrey, of Basildon, speeding and undertaking before he stopped him on the A130 in Rettendon on July 15, Essex Police said.

During the stop, the officer noticed Godfrey had a camera fitted to the bike and seized its memory card, suspecting it had captured the rider’s driving.

When reviewed, the dashcam had captured footage of earlier journeys that day.

It showed the man riding along a number of roads at an “estimated top speed of 150mph whilst overtaking numerous vehicles and even performing a ‘wheelie’ whilst passing oncoming vehicles”, Essex Police said.

Godfrey admitted dangerous driving and was sentenced at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on November 3 to a one-year driving ban, the force said.

He was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, to re-sit his driving test and pay £269 of fines and costs.

Pc Danny Wheeler, who led the investigation, said: “There is no doubt that the rider drove in a dangerous manner that day, using the public roads of Chelmsford as a racetrack with no consideration for himself and the safety of other road users.

“At one point, he nearly collided into a roundabout.

“The footage was horrific, so much so that during interview, the rider admitted that even he was shocked by it and admitted he’d been foolish.”

The court ordered no separate penalty for two other charges relating to the unlawful registration plate, which did not conform with DVLA regulations.

The number of fuel thefts from filling stations in Britain has soared, new figures suggest.

Data obtained by the RAC Foundation indicate that forecourt owners attempted to trace offenders over 39,563 incidents between July and September.

That is up 77% from 22,335 during the same period last year, and represents more than a fourfold increase on the total of 8,558 in those three months during 2019.

The RAC Foundation said the rise could be due to “systematic criminal activity”.

The figures relate to the number of requests made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for vehicle keeper data in relation to fuel theft.

Most of the incidents are likely to relate to drive-offs – also known as bilking – where someone fills up their vehicle with no intention of paying, and then leaves.

The British Oil Security Syndicate – which campaigns to reduce crime on forecourts – estimates the practice costs filling stations an average of £10,500 each per year.

The maximum penalty for drivers convicted of making off without payment, an offence under the Theft Act 1978, is two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: “Among all the recent media attention given to the epidemic of shoplifting, it should probably come as no surprise to find that the theft of petrol and diesel from forecourts looks to be a big and growing problem, and these figures might only hint at a much bigger issue.

“While it may be that the cost-of-living crisis is tempting some people to risk driving off without paying, the real headache for fuel suppliers is if this is a sign of more systematic criminal activity.

“The message to anyone tempted to bilk the service station must be ‘Don’t fill up if you can’t pay up’ because getting caught is a real possibility, and financial losses to companies ultimately lead to higher prices for us all.”

Expanding the ultra low emission zone (Ulez) has led to “cleaner air across London”, Sadiq Khan has claimed.

The Mayor of London made the comment after a Transport for London (TfL) report showed the proportion of vehicles in the expanded area that comply with minimum emissions standards has risen from 85% in May 2022 to 95% in September.

Mr Khan extended the Ulez zone from everywhere within the North and South Circular roads to cover all London boroughs from August 29.

For petrol cars to meet the emissions standards they must generally have been first registered after 2005.

Most diesel cars registered after September 2015 are also exempt from the £12.50 daily charge.

While acknowledging that there “isn’t enough data in relation to air quality”, Mr Khan told the PA news agency: “We do know though, that after one month there are fewer non-compliant vehicles, who are the most polluting.

“We do know there are more compliant vehicles, and that leads to a conclusion that there is cleaner air across London.”

TfL’s report showed that 93,700 vehicles which failed to meet minimum emissions standards were driven in the capital on an average day in the first month after the expansion.

Some 36% were exempt, leaving about 60,000, including those owned by private motorists and businesses, liable for the daily charge.

That is 3% of the total number of vehicles recorded as being driven in London each day.

The figures suggest TfL receives approximately £730,000 a day in Ulez fees.

Enforcement action is taken in response to people not paying the Ulez charge in relation to 3% of non-compliant vehicles, equivalent to about 2,000 a day.

TfL said it issued 13,480 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) between September 26-30.

FPNs are £180, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

Failure to pay an FPN or make a representation within 28 days leads to it increasing to £270.

TfL says it can use bailiffs to “recover monies owed”, and their fees “may run into many hundreds of pounds”.

An anti-Ulez Facebook group with more than 40,000 members is urging people to refuse to pay, as well as celebrating the vandalism of enforcement cameras.

TfL’s director of strategy and policy Christina Calderato said: “It’s great to see that 95% of the vehicles driving in the capital comply with the scheme’s transformative air quality standards.

“The Ulez is highly effective in taking the oldest, most polluting vehicles off the roads.”

A scheme providing up to £2,000 for Londoners to scrap a non-compliant vehicle remains open.

Around 60,000 vehicle owners a day are paying the £12.50 fee for entering London’s expanded ultra low emission zone (Ulez), new figures show.

A report published by Transport for London (TfL) revealed that 93,700 vehicles that failed to meet minimum emissions standards were driven in the capital on an average day in the first month after the expansion on August 29.

Some 36% were exempt, leaving around 60,000 – including those owned by private motorists and businesses – liable for the £12.50 daily charge.

That is 3% of the total number of vehicles recorded as being driven in London each day.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the increase in the proportion of vehicles in the expanded area that comply with the emissions standards from 85% in May 2022 to 95% in September will “make a huge difference”.

The report also revealed that around 48,000 fewer vehicles a day were used in the capital between August 29 and September 30 compared with June, representing a 2% reduction.

Mr Khan extended the Ulez zone from everywhere within the North and South Circular roads to cover all London boroughs.

For petrol cars to meet the emissions standards, they must generally have been first registered after 2005.

Most diesel cars registered after September 2015 are also exempt from the charge.

Mr Khan said: “I’ve always said that the decision to expand the Ulez was very difficult, but a month on from the expansion we can already see that it is working.

“London is now home to the world’s largest clean air zone and this new data shows 95% of vehicles seen driving in London on an average day now comply with our air quality standards – a 10 percentage point increase since I began to consult on the Ulez expansion in May 2022.

“This will make a huge difference to the lives and health of Londoners.”

TfL’s director of strategy and policy Christina Calderato said: “It’s great to see that 95% of the vehicles driving in the capital comply with the scheme’s transformative air quality standards.

“The Ulez is highly effective in taking the oldest, most polluting vehicles off the roads.”

TfL said it initially sent warning letters to vehicle owners for non-payment but issued 13,480 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) between September 26-30.

FPNs are £180, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

An anti-Ulez Facebook group with more than 40,000 members is urging people to refuse to pay as well as celebrating the vandalism of enforcement cameras.

AA president Edmund King said: “We have said all along that targeting the most polluting vehicles will help to improve air quality.

“What we still don’t know is how the expansion has affected families on low incomes who could no longer afford to run their non-compliant vehicles or purchase a newer one.”

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis: “It’s clear from just a month’s data that the expanded Ulez is bringing air quality benefits.

“But we note there were around 48,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone in September compared to June, so we have to hope these are people who have chosen to get around by other means rather than being unable to travel at all because they are stuck with a non-compliant vehicle.”

TfL said it is “too early to draw firm conclusions” about its figures showing a reduction in vehicle usage.

A scheme providing up to £2,000 for Londoners to scrap a non-compliant vehicle remains open.

Used car prices have dropped by 4.2 per cent in October following a ‘significant’ movement in the market.

Derren Martin, director of valuations for trade used car pricing experts Cap HPI, told Car Dealer Magazine that the fall is the biggest drop since 2011. It’s also the largest fall ever recorded in October while monthly falls of more than three per cent have only ever happened on a trio of other occasions.

Martin described the fall – which works out to an average of an £850 drop per car – as a ‘significant realignment’ but wouldn’t call it a ‘crash’. It contrasts October 2022, however, where used car prices fell by just 0.5 per cent.

Speaking on video to Car Dealer, Martin said: “There’s more cars out there and there’s less demand.

“We haven’t spoken to a single dealer that is stocking up. So when you get more supply, and only selective buying, that obviously affects prices.”

Bucking the trend was electric vehicles, with battery-powered models suffering less of a drop than petrol, diesel and hybrid models.

The biggest used price drop was for the Mitsubishi ASX – which fell by 13.4 per cent – followed by the BMW 2 Series Convertible diesel and the Skoda Karoq, which fell by 12.3 and 11.5 per cent respectively.

In contrast, the car which saw the largest used car price rise was the Dacia Logan diesel – which went up by 6.9 per cent – with the Seat Mii Electric and Toyota Prius increasing by four and 3.9 per cent respectively.

A number of other electric vehicles were on the list of biggest used price rises, too, including the Mazda MX-30 and the Nissan Leaf.

Major fuel retailers are being urged to cut petrol prices by 5p per litre due to lower wholesale costs.

The RAC, which issued the plea, accused fuel-selling supermarkets of hiking their margins on petrol.

Its analysis found their margins on petrol are around 14p per litre, double the long-term average of 7p.

Latest figures show average petrol prices in the UK are 155.3p per litre.

Petrol prices should be lowered by 5p per litre while diesel should be cut by 4p per litre, according to the RAC.

The 5p per litre cut in fuel duty introduced by the Government in March 2022 “only appears to be helping retailers who have chosen to up their margins”, the company said.

An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that supermarket fuel retailers overcharged drivers by 6p per litre in 2022, costing them a total of around £900 million.

The CMA recommended retailers provide live pump price information and a price monitoring body is created.

The Government has pledged to legislate for both those measures.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Our analysis sadly shows that despite the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation confirming drivers were being ripped off at the pumps – something we have been saying for years – and the Government acting on the findings, nothing has changed.

“Drivers are still losing out massively when wholesale prices come down.

“But in Northern Ireland, where the supermarkets don’t dominate fuel retailing, drivers are getting fairer deal with a litre of unleaded costing 150p and diesel 157p – 5p less than the UK average.

“Drivers and, indeed, the Treasury, should be furious that the 5p per litre duty cut, which has been in place since the end of March 2022, is not being passed on at forecourts.

“There is no doubt from studying RAC Fuel Watch data that margins are up across the board, and while retailers argue their costs have increased due to inflation, the irony remains that there is a definite link between pump prices and consumer price inflation.

“A failure to cut pump prices to fairer levels when there is a clear opportunity to do so has the effect of keeping inflation artificially high – which is clearly in nobody’s interest.”

Just Stop Oil activists who took part in M25 protests are waiting for a High Court judge’s ruling after being accused of being in contempt.

Mr Justice Soole is due to announce a decision on Monday after considering evidence at a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London last week.

One protester accused of breaching a court injunction by climbing on to an M25 gantry is a 76-year-old grandmother.

Retired teacher Gaie Delap, from Bristol, told the judge that the “climate emergency” was not being taken seriously enough and her “heart was breaking” for the future of “my six grandchildren”.

Ms Delap is one of 12 people accused of taking part in M25 protests in November 2022 and breaching a court injunction.

Lawyers representing National Highways told the judge that protesters caused “considerable delays” and are in contempt of court.

The protesters have all mounted arguments in their defence.

Three other people aged over 55 – Paul Sousek, 72, Theresa Norton, 65, and Paul Bleach, 56 – feature in the litigation.

Others protesters accused of contempt at the hearing were: Charlotte Kirin, 54; Daniel Johnson, 25; Joseph Linhart, 22; Luke Elson, 30; Mair Bain, 36; Paul Bell, 23; Rosemary Jackson, 25; and Theresa Higginson, 25.

Drivers’ anger at the condition of local roads has reached an eight-year high, with a third of drivers swerving to avoid a pothole, a new survey suggests.

Some 49% of respondents to a poll of 2,583 UK drivers commissioned by the RAC said the issue was their biggest motoring concern.

This is the highest proportion recorded in the annual survey since the motoring services company began asking drivers for their views on the state of local roads in 2015.

The previous high of 46% was in 2021.

In the latest poll, two-thirds of those questioned said the condition of the local roads they regularly drive on had deteriorated in the previous 12 months.

One in three (35%) respondents said they had swerved quickly to avoid a pothole and ended up crossing into another lane or going on to the wrong side of the road.

Concerns about the condition of local roads were largely due to poor surfaces, but other factors included faded markings, litter and signage visibility.

Drivers questioned were generally more positive about motorways and high-speed dual carriageways, with just 11% saying the condition of these roads was a major concern.

But 44% said their condition had worsened in the previous year.

The cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £14 billion.

Potholes often form when water enters cracks in the road surface, then freezes and expands.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Many drivers will be wondering why so many potholes appeared on the country’s local roads in the absence of a particularly cold winter.

“Sadly, a long-term lack of funding for maintenance and repair work means our roads are in such a fragile state that it only takes a little rainwater getting into existing flaws followed by some sub-zero temperatures for them to break down further.

“We have to bring the ongoing deterioration of our local roads to an end by giving councils the certainty of funding they need to be able to plan proper maintenance programmes which include resurfacing roads that have gone beyond the point where they can be patched up.

“This is why we continue to call on the Government to ring-fence 2p from every litre of existing fuel revenues over a five-year period which will give councils the funds they need to be able to plan proper maintenance programmes.

“It is plain wrong that drivers who contribute billions in tax every year have to put up with roads that are so far from being fit for purpose.”

Darren Rodwell, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, said: “Councils share the frustration of all road users about the conditions of our local roads.

“The LGA has long called for longer-term funding to tackle the issues facing our roads and we believe that Government should award local authority highways departments with five-yearly funding allocations to give more certainty, bringing councils on a par with National Highways.

“In the upcoming autumn statement we look forward to seeing more details on the recent £8.3 billion funding plan for roads maintenance.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The decision to redirect HS2 funding to other transport projects means that an extra £8.3 billion has been freed up to help local authorities fill potholes and resurface roads across the country, which is on top of the near £1 billion the Government already provides on average every year.

“We are investing a record amount of funding into tackling potholes and resurfacing roads, which will see highway maintenance funding to local authorities almost doubled over the next decade.”

– The survey was conducted in March by research company Online95.

Electric vehicle (EV) buyers face a £3,400 price hike from the start of next year unless post-Brexit trade rules are delayed, an automotive industry body has said.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called on the UK and EU to postpone the implementation of tougher rules of origin requirements on EV batteries.

Tariffs of 10% are due to be imposed on exports of electric cars between the UK and EU from January 1 if at least 45% of their value does not originate in the UK or EU.

Manufacturers will struggle to meet that threshold as battery production within Europe has not increased as quickly as hoped.

The SMMT estimated the tariffs could result in an average price rise of £3,400 on EU-manufactured pure battery electric vehicles bought in the UK.

Nearly half (49%) of all pure battery electric vehicles bought by UK buyers are from the EU.

The SMMT said conventional petrol and diesel vehicles would escape tariffs, which would “have the perverse effect of incentivising the purchase of fossil fuel-powered vehicles”.

It described a three-year delay in implementing the new rules of origin requirements as “a pragmatic solution” as it would allow time for European battery production to ramp up.

Speaking before an SMMT virtual global trade conference, the organisation’s chief executive Mike Hawes said: “UK automotive is a trading powerhouse delivering billions to the British economy, exporting vehicles and parts around the world, creating high value jobs and driving growth nationwide.

“Our manufacturers have shown incredible resilience amid multiple challenges in recent years, but unnecessary, unworkable and ill-timed rules of origin will only serve to set back the recovery and disincentivise the very vehicles we want to sell.

“Not only would consumers be out of pocket, but the industrial competitiveness of the UK and continental industries would be undermined.

“A three-year delay is a simple, common-sense solution which must be agreed urgently.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We need a joint UK-EU solution to avoid consumers facing tariffs on electric vehicles from 2024 which do not apply to petrol and diesel cars.

“We have raised this with the European Commission and industry and are ready to work with them to find a solution within the existing structure of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The UK remains one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing.”