The words ‘government’ and ‘IT project’ are so frequently followed by ‘disaster’ that it is little surprise to learn Fuel Finder is already running into issues, with today’s scheduled registration now delayed until the new year – but the way this particular project has developed has nonetheless been wearisome.
Questions were raised about the scheme’s necessity from the moment it was proposed. And while cynics might say that forecourt firms were never going to welcome a system that broadcasts their prices to the country at large, given services like Petrol Prices already share this information, that point is moot.
It’s worth thinking about who will actually use Fuel Finder though, because it’s reasonable to judge that consumers who would be minded to look up local prices before filling up will already be doing so with data that’s readily available today.
And while one minister described the £40 annual saving FF is predicted to bring households as “a meaningful difference”, I’d be inclined to disagree. Sure, I’d rather someone gave me £40 than didn’t, but aside from whether that saving will be achieved, when carbon taxes add far more to everyone’s energy bills, this is hardly a legitimate trumpet for the government to sound.
Criticism can also be levied at Competition and Markets Authority, a key driver of the scheme, which previously admitted it has not taken operating costs into account when looking at fuel margins. Given such costs have only been going up for some time, this is a significant oversight that arguably colours any judgements that follow it.
Aside from such details, even the most computer illiterate among us would surely question the wisdom of launching a brand-new, nationwide, mandatory government IT system just seven days before Christmas.
Operators might have no choice but to swallow this government-mandated pill but they can raise eyebrows, as many did when a company called VE3 Global was awarded the tender to develop FF despite having no background or connections to speak of in the forecourt sector. Indeed, the company’s profile is so interesting that Private Eye saw fit to scrutinise its background.
Whether VE3’s lack of experience has anything to do with the registration delay is unknown. But while it is arguably a good thing that the company would rather push back the project so it can carry out further reliability testing rather than release buggy software into thousands of forecourts’ back-office systems, it is notable that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is managing Fuel Finder’s rollout from the government’s side, has not contacted firms about the delay, nor shared whether the 2 February cutoff date for registration will be changed to reflect it.
Rather than being a meaningful resource for consumers, Fuel Finder strikes me as a tool government can use to chastise and control businesses with. It is yet another burdensome and unnecessary tendril of the state, forcing its way into commerce and controlled with a smirking ‘we know best’ attitude that is a) unsupported by competence or efficacy, b) brings more work for no gain, and c) royally puts people’s backs up. Déjà vu?
