---

Fuel Duty (Rural Areas)

I will move quickly on, Sir Nicholas. I take the hon. Gentleman's point; the issue is whether we can do something about it. The evidence that was presented on European Union restrictions was interesting. Regarding whether cuts in prices would be passed on to consumers, the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross has suggested an audit procedure, although that would involve a significant administrative burden. It would be interesting to hear what the Government have to say about that, although I sound a note of caution. More widely, the Government have mentioned the administrative difficulty, but I hope that the Minister will elaborate particularly on moving the duty point from petrol distribution networks and oil companies to individual petrol stations. In conclusion, hon. Members have raised a legitimate problem and, in principle, we have no objection to using fuel duty as a way of addressing it. There are various points that we need to understand. There needs to be an assessment of how much such a measure would cost and precise understanding of exactly why there is such a disparity. We also need clarity about applicability. We have heard various views about whether a reduction in fuel duty should apply to islands or more widely. There are questions to consider, such as what we mean by remote and peripheral, and hon. Members have done some work on these points. We need to ensure that the fuel duty reduction is passed on to motorists and we need to understand the full administrative impact of any such proposals. Those are reasonable, practical points that need to be addressed. They might have been addressed in the past, but we hope that the Minister will respond to them and say whether there is a practical way of addressing the concerns that have been so eloquently set out this morning.