ACS has welcomed a report from the influential BEIS Committee, which calls on the Government to address issues with a new Bill aimed at making the fuel supply chain more secure and reliable.
The Downstream Oil Resilience Bill was introduced earlier this year by Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan after being first announced during the Queen’s Speech. The Bill aims to address the following issues:
- identifying risks of disruption to the UK fuel supply market
- protecting fuel supply resilience when required and prevent supply disruptions from occurring in the first place
- enabling the collection of information from the sector to understand the impact of potential/active disruptions in fuel supply
- enabling the Government to provide financial assistance to build resilience and security within fuel supplies
The BEIS Committee’s report also called on the Government to be clearer about the new Bill’s intention to address vulnerabilities in the supply chain, urging the Government to create a ‘purpose clause’ on the face of the Bill to ensure that the new powers it grants are used effectively and appropriately.
The committee’s report has echoed calls from ACS in its submission from July this year to clarify the thresholds within the bill which place requirements on downstream oil operators to report incidents and information.
ACS’ submission also called on the Government to review its’ national emergency plan for fuel to avoid future fuel disruption and increase security in the supply chain.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This Bill is an important marker in ensuring that the resilience of the fuel supply chain is considered a priority by Government. We welcome the Committee’s recommendations which will create a stronger framework for fuel resilience in future, which we hope will mean that petrol retailers, who are incredibly important to their communities, will be able to get on with serving their customers and not dealing with supply chain issues.”
ACS will continue to work closely with government whilst the legislation is considered to communicate the clarifications required for the sector and ensure the Bill is fit for purpose.
