Written question asked by Greg Clark (Conservative) on Wednesday, 5 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 November 2008. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 November 2008 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Gas: Prices

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government are taking to encourage suppliers of non-mains gas to reduce their retail prices.

Answer: The majority of domestic users of non-mains gas use Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).The downstream oil industry, including the production and supply of LPG, operates within a global market comprising refiners, traders and suppliers.The supply of LPG is subject to UK competition law under the Competition Act 1998, and the appropriate bodies act to regulate the sector. As a result of concerns about competition in the market for domestic bulk LPG, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) made a market investigation reference to the Competition Commission (CC) in July 2004. In June 2006 the CC published a report which stated that difficulties in switching supplier have inhibited competition. The CC has arrived at a package of remedies which is intended to make it easier to switch supplier, and will provide greater transparency of pricing, providing information on which consumers will be able to take this decision. It is expected that the increased ability of consumers to switch supplier will increase competition in the market and put downward pressure on prices.

Secondary information