Mundell welcomes OFT Rural Initiative
Published 16 Feb 2012 10:30
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David Mundell has welcomed the launch of a new 'Remote Communities Project' by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which aims to look into the challenges facing people who live and work in rural places across the UK.
The UK's consumer and competition body is seeking the views of residents living in remote communities in order to improve the OFT's understanding of how remoteness affects both consumers and businesses, and is calling for evidence from the public to help inform its work.
The prices of many goods and services are frequently higher in remote communities, and access to key services such as shops, banks and public transport can often be limited. Fuel prices in particular are a common cause for concern, given that distance affects costs of distribution. Whilst shopping online may expand opportunities for broader choice and quality, deliveries to more isolated areas can sometimes be problematic and costly.
Geography and population density can also have a major impact on the cost and accessibility of goods and services to customers, and on how businesses operate.
Welcoming the launch of the project, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP Mr Mundell said: "I hope the launch of this important research and fact finding exercise by the OFT will encourage rural residents to submit their views on the limitations they currently experience in terms of services in their area. I know the variety of choice in rural communities can be restrictive, or the quality of goods compromised, and I find this unacceptable. Fuel prices especially are a worrying issue for those living in particularly isolated areas, who need to travel considerable distances to get to school, to work or even to get to local shops.
Rural areas are often lacking in accessibility to vital services such as doctors surgeries, dentists and chemists, so I will be interested in reading the results of the OFT's findings."
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