Economy minister refuses to impose price controls on home heating oil as cost remains at over £1 per litre

Her party, Sinn Fein, has previously been very critical of the UK government for not doing enough to help consumers suffering from the surge in prices since the Iran war began.

Instead of announcing that a regulator will now control the price of heating oil – something which the Northern Ireland Utility Regulator already does with gas and electricity – she has announced five measures which stop short of that.

They are:

1: Setting up “a comprehensive register of heating oil suppliers” to “improve transparency and oversight of the market”;

2: "Creating an opt-in register for vulnerable consumers, led by the Consumer Council, to help identify those most in need and enable support to be targeted effectively”;

3: Providing “protections comparable to those in the gas and electricity sectors” to heating oil consumers who are registered as “vulnerable”, and “prioritising support during supply disruption or fuel shortages”;

4: Introducing a mandatory code of conduct for suppliers, including “strengthening transparency around minimum order volumes”;

5: And giving the Consumer Council an “enhanced role” in helping consumers resolve disputes with suppliers.

The News Letter has asked a number of questions, including why the department wants to draw up another list of oil suppliers when HMRC already runs such a register, who would qualify as “vulnerable”, and what “strengthening transparency around minimum order volumes” means.

In a statement to the Assembly today on the subject, minister Archibald referred repeatedly to a review of home heating oil prices that was carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the summer, which had informed her decisions.

"The CMA found that the local home heating oil market is generally competitive, with prices tending to be among the lowest across these islands,” she said.

"The inflationary spike experienced in recent months was driven primarily by increases in international wholesale prices, which the CMA found accounts for around 83% of the retail price of heating oil.”

And in a statement to the press afterwards, she said “the measures I am announcing today will strengthen protections for local consumers and make it easier to support vulnerable households”.

Meanwhile the cost of home heating oil in Northern Ireland remains in the grip of a second post-war price surge.

The first spike was when the USA and Israel initially attacked Iran, pushing prices from £537 for a 900-litre load in February up to £1,089 in April.

The price then dipped down again to £615 by early July, before rebounding once again.

According to the Consumer Council, which monitors the cost of oil in the Province, a 900-litre load currently costs an average of £992 – although that is down from an autumn peak of £1,023 one week earlier.

Whenever the UK government had announced in March it was setting aside a £17m pot to subsidise heating oil consumers, Sinn Fein MLA Chris Hazzard had said this “doesn't even touch the surface of the rising costs people are facing”.

UUP deputy leader Diana Armstrong hailed what she said were “a number of positive proposals” from Caoimhe Archibald today, but said they “ultimately fall short of the action needed” and “do little to address the underlying problem of spiralling prices”.

"While improved consumer protections are worthwhile, the reality is that families need action that will help bring costs down and provide meaningful relief,” she said.

"My concern is that the minister's proposals, while well-intentioned, do not go far enough to achieve that."