Chancellor and Energy Secretary meet with fuel bosses in No11 as government order crackdown on pump prices

The Chancellor said she is determined to support people with the cost of living amid conflict in the Middle East and will not stand by if firms use uncertainty as cover to push up prices and protect margins at the expense of drivers.

Her intervention comes ahead of a Downing Street roundtable on Friday evening, where petrol retailers and energy suppliers will be pressed on what they are doing to keep prices down — and what more they can do to ensure changes in costs are passed on fairly.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:

I will not tolerate any company exploiting the current situation to make excess profits at consumers’ expense. I’m backing drivers and families — and I expect a fair deal at the pump.

Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband said:

Tackling the cost of living is our number one priority – all fuel retailers must sign up for Fuel Finder so drivers can find the cheapest price at the pump.

We will not hesitate to act to protect consumers against any unfair practices.

On Friday (13 March), the Chancellor and Energy Secretary will call on industry to explain why prices vary so widely, how quickly forecourts respond when costs ease, and what immediate steps firms will take to make sure motorists aren’t left paying over the odds. The Chancellor noted earlier this week that prices varied from £1.27 per litre to £1.80 per litre between forecourts.

This comes after the Energy Secretary met with the CEO of the Competition and Markets Authority on Tuesday 10 March to discuss ensuring consumers were protected from any unfair price rises.

Drivers should not have to guess whether they’re being overcharged — so the government is accelerating its Fuel Finder, making it easier to see who’s cheapest locally and to take business away from the priciest pumps.

All major supermarkets have confirmed they are now providing real-time data to the government’s Fuel Finder scheme, with almost 90% of retailers already registered, and government taking action on the final 10%.

Greater transparency on prices will drive up competition and is set to see households who own a car save on average £40 a year at the pump.

And the message to any retailer dragging their feet is straightforward: if you won’t be transparent, you’ll be called out — because sunlight on prices is one of the strongest tools consumers have to force competition and drive costs down.

More information

• The Fuel Finder scheme is expected to incentivise competition between Petrol Forecourt Stations, lowering fuel prices and resulting in fuel cost savings for consumers.
• The Fuel Finder average household saving estimate is calculated using the central estimate for total fuel cost savings by Fuel Finder in the Fuel Finder Open Data Scheme Final Impact Assessment and uses publicly available official statistics on household car ownership, vehicle classification and number of households in the UK to estimate the average savings from Fuel Finder for UK households that own at least one car. The estimate expresses savings in constant 2024 prices, with 2025 as the base year. There is an inherent uncertainty in predicting how fuel prices will react to the introduction of the scheme.
• ONS data sources used: Percentage of households with at least one car: DfT NTS (2024), Cars as a proportion of total vehicles: DfT Vehicle Licensing Statistics VEH101 (Q5 2025), Percentage of cars owned by private households: DfT VEH1102 (UK, Q4 2024), Total number of households: ONS Families and Households in the UK (2024)

source: GOV