PRESS RELEASE : Doug Beattie calls for fair pricing for small containers of home heating oil [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 19 January 2023.

The Ulster Unionist Party Leader Doug Beattie MC MLA has called on retailers who sell home heating oil in small containers to price them at the same cost per unit as is charged to those who buy larger amounts which are delivered via tankers.

Doug Beattie said:

“Living in a cold and freezing environment can be debilitating, inhibit motivation and adversely affect general health and wellbeing.

“Ulster Unionists have campaigned to ensure many government interventions during the Energy Crisis and we welcome the current roll-out of £600 Energy Support Payment but further action is needed.

“We have called for the Utility Regulator to be given power to oversee home heating oil and bottled gas sales and in the absence of official regulation I am now also asking retailers who sell home heating oil in small containers – usually from the forecourts of garages – to self-regulate and not sell these containers for more than the price for bulk buying for home delivery via tanker.

“Those on a low income, particularly before receiving the long awaited £600 Energy Support Payment, may not be able to afford a bulk delivery of oil and it is important that we as a society protect the most vulnerable and those in greatest need.”