Affordable fuel prices are little comfort to struggling families
Renfrewshire has some of the most affordable fuel prices in Scotland, new research reveals.
It comes as politicians warn that households in the area face an “unacceptable situation” over the cost-of-living crisis.
Research carried out by financial comparison website Forbes Advisor, reveals that East Renfrewshire has the second most affordable fuel prices in the country.
Renfrewshire also ranks in sixth position for most affordable fuel in Scotland, after Chancellor Rishi Sunak handed down a meagre five pence a litre cut in fuel duty.
East Renfrewshire is behind only East Dunbartonshire in the table of most affordable fuel prices.
For drivers in the county, filling up with a 55-litre tank of petrol at an estimated cost of £87.23, will account for 13.72 per cent of the typical weekly wage of £635.80 for workers in the area.
Researchers used data from the Office for National Statistics and Petrol Map - a live petrol price tracking website, which records fuel prices in every town and city of the UK - to carry out the study.
They compared the average weekly wage in every local authority in Scotland with its average cost of a 55-litre tank of petrol to uncover the areas worst hit by soaring petrol prices.
But their reckoning that the average fuel price in East Renfrewshire of 158.6p per litre seems on the low side.
Kevin Pratt, personal finance spokesperson at Forbes Advisor, said: “While some areas of Scotland are benefiting from relatively affordable fuel prices, the fact that a tank of petrol is consuming over 19 per cent of weekly wages in some areas of Scotland is deeply concerning.
“There’s a perfect storm of rising prices brewing at the moment which threatens to push people across Scotland towards genuine, deep financial hardship. Not just petrol, but gas and electricity bills, the cost of the weekly shop and services like mobile phones and broadband are just some of the bills that are rocketing upwards in an era of steepling inflation.
“Friday saw the latest hike in the domestic energy price cap.
“It is forecast to rise again sharply next October, when typical households could be facing annual bills of £2,500 double what they are today.
“And let’s not forget that the cut in fuel duty is only temporary. “If it is reinstated in 12 months, as planned, it will heap yet more unwelcome pressure on household budgets that are already stretched to - and in some cases beyond - breaking point.”
In Renfrewshire, where the average weekly wage is estimated to be £556.50, the average fill cost for a 55 litre tank of £88 takes it into sixth most affordable place for a fill-up in Scotland.
An estimated 15.81 per cent of wages goes on fuel at an optimistic reckoned cost of 160.0p per litre.
But Labour’s Neil Bibby says the rising cost of food, fuel and domestic energy is pushing many households into a stranglehold.
He said: “A cost of living crisis is here and it is clear Renfrewshire households are being hit hard by further rises in fuel prices and household bills. People are not just being hit with fuel price hikes but also unaffordable public transport costs too.
“This really is an unacceptable situation. Both the UK and Scottish Governments need to do far more than they are doing to give respite to hard-pressed Renfrewshire families.”
The Paisley-based West Scotland politician added: “There must be concerted action to bring down inflation, help with households bills and get the economy firing on all cylinders.”
We told just weeks ago how community leaders feared vulnerable residents in the poorest parts of Renfrewshire faced death because they can no longer afford to both heat and eat.
Terry McTernan, from the Ferguslie-based Darkwood Crew community group, warned over catastrophic consequences after a 54 per cent domestic gas and electricity price hike was announced, saying: “My genuine concern is that people are going to die over this.”
Angus was found to have Scotland’s least affordable petrol after residents there were estimated to spend almost a fifth - 19.4 per cent - of their weekly wage of £459 on a tank of petrol.