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Fuel Supply: Grangemouth Refinery

My Lords, I wholeheartedly agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, that we need to have a sense of proportion about what is happening. Indeed, the Secretary of State was clear in urging that people do not buy more than they need and that they maintain their normal buying patterns. This will ensure that there are no shortages. There have been reports of a couple of incidents of petrol stations putting up their prices. While in some instances that may be understandable, we have to be clear that in no sense can profiteering be acceptable. If there is any evidence of collusion in any way, the OFT will be ready to investigate. On the actions that we will be able to take should they be necessary, it is not the current assessment that any emergency actions are needed. If they were, there is an national emergency action plan which will enable us to ensure that fuel supplies are available to essential services, that we can do bulk purchasing, that we can distribute supplies and put caps on individual purchases. There is no assessment that any of this is currently needed. The Energy Act 1976 allows us to take action to direct the industry, but again that is not assessed to be needed. However, a memorandum of understanding, which has been in place for a while, was activated this Monday. It forms part of our discussions with the industry and allows those in the industry to have discussions with each other without fear of any issues around competition law. This will enable them to ensure that there is a managed supply. As to the longer-term impact, it is important that we have the same sense of proportion. This is a two-day industrial action and there is no reason to believe that it will have any significant impact on investment plans going forward, on the industry or on jobs. On the noble Lord’s questions about rural areas, the Scottish Executive are very seized of this issue. The supply in rural areas is usually by coastal tankers and barges and provisions have been made to ensure that these can be resupplied as quickly as possible. I do not know whether the Treasury has made any estimate of lost tax revenue. I suspect that if it had it would not say, so I am not going to promise to write on this matter. We urge both parties to come back to the table and resume negotiations. As the noble Baroness and the noble Lord have said, the issue of longer-term impact arises out of sustained action rather than any immediate action. I hope I have answered all the questions, but if I have not I will come back. The noble Baroness asked whether we will maintain our scrutiny of what is going on. We will be very vigilant. My department is working closely with industry, through direct discussions with the MAU, the Scottish Executive, local authorities and the emergency services. We will maintain those discussions and report back to Parliament on any issues that arise.