Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

We have had exactly the same sort of complaints. As I said earlier, probably half of the complaints were about the timing of the excise duty reduction and when that was seen at the pump. About another quarter of the complaints were just about the level of price. We see exactly the same as the Deputy sees in terms of where the public concern is and I would echo what she said. I am grateful for her acknowledgement that as a law enforcement agency, all that we can do is enforce the law. We are definitely not the morality police.

On the question of whether law can be strengthened or whether there are unethical practices that ought to be dealt with by law, ultimately that is a policy matter for the Departments rather than for us. As we build understanding of these markets and in the course of the inquiries that we are making, we will end up with some more understanding of what the impact has been of the price rises and how the rises in the price of crude oil and of the import price of refined products and those wholesale and excise prices have affected the industry and consumers. If we see something that is widespread and unusual then we will bring that to the attention of the policymakers. We certainly are able to give advice but it would be premature for me at the moment to say that there is a case for new laws. When one thinks about what the laws might be, one must be cognisant of the possibility of unintended consequences. So, it is never straightforward. The Deputy asked a straightforward question but it has never been an easy one to answer.