00:02Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations to the Member for North Devon on securing this important debate today.
00:08Constituencies like mine of North Cornwall, which borders my honourable friends, are among the most rural in this country.
00:15My constituents rely on their cars to cover vast areas, to get to work, to take their children to school, to attend vital health care appointments.
00:25And for this, when it comes to the cost of fuel, they quite literally pay the price.
00:30People living in rural areas like North Cornwall spend on average £800 a year more in fuel costs compared to those living in urban centres.
00:39These people make around 75% of all their journeys by car, and are around four times fewer people in Cornwall are able to travel to work via public transport than the rest of England.
00:52Fuel in some cases can be around 10% to 15% more expensive at the pump in Cornwall compared to other areas.
00:58Extrapolate that across a full year or several years, adding in the increased reliance that we have on our cars, and my North Cornwall constituents end up facing astronomical costs at a time when money is extremely tight.
01:13Under Liberal Democrat proposals, we double the number of areas covered by the rural fuel duty relief scheme, to include places like Cornwall that are in dire need of respite.
01:25In the face of these extremely high fuel prices, the government in their recent buses bill missed a clear opportunity to ensure that vital health care routes have statutory protection, like school and education routes.
01:38Ensuring proper access to health care in Cornwall's hospitals and GP surgeries.
01:44I've just got off the phone, Madam Chair, to GoBusCormall, who have explained to me once again that this government are not providing enough bus funding.
01:54So the logical conclusion of that is that we have to use our cars for those essential trips.
01:59I'm talking about health care and other essential trips.
02:08They're forced to drive for hours to access hospital appointments, GP appointments in North Devon, in Truro, in Derriford and elsewhere.
02:18Additionally, we'd also introduce an official government-funded pump watch scheme, as my honourable friend for Newton Abbott earlier mentioned.
02:28That would allow Cornwall's commuters to directly compare fuel prices of nearby petrol stations to prevent them from being ripped off.
02:35As we've heard from so many members, this variance in price all around the country and sometimes within the same region.
02:44Northern Ireland already has a similar comparison scheme in place.
02:48And as a result, benefit from some of the lowest fuel prices in the country, as we heard from my honourable friend earlier.
02:55So would the Minister in his wind-ups please kindly confirm whether he will and his government will adopt our proposals to double the areas included in the rural fuel duty relief scheme and launch an official pump watch programme?
03:11Please, Minister, give these due consideration that they deserve.
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