Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will implement the proposal set out on page 326 of the OECD Policy Roundtable on Competition in Road Fuel to introduce road signs displaying the price of petrol and diesel at motorway service stations in order to improve transparency and consumer choice.

Mr John Hayes

This Government knows the public is concerned about the price of petrol and diesel at Motorway Service Areas. Highways England is, on behalf of the Government, delivering an 18 month trial of four fuel comparison price signs on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter.

The trial consists of four new electronic signs displaying real-time price information of petrol and diesel for the next three service areas along the route and commenced in Spring 2016. Monitoring and evaluation of the trial will determine the effectiveness of the new fuel comparison price signs in providing useful information to road users and in understanding the impact of improving fuel price transparency on driver behaviour and fuel prices at Motorway Service Areas.