Clause 12.—(TARIFFS.) (Hansard, 3 April 1957)

§ Mr. Renton

I beg to move, in page 9, line 25, at the end to insert: (3) Where a consumer has requested an Area Board to enter into an agreement with him under subsection (7) of the said section thirty-seven (under which Area Boards are empowered to enter into special agreements with consumers), or to renew an agreement entered into under that subsection, or to vary the terms of such an agreement, and the Board—

(a) have refused to comply with that request, or
(b) have refused to comply with it except on terms which are not acceptable to the consumer,

the consumer may refer the matter to the Consultative Council established for the area of that Board. (4) The grounds on which a consumer may refer a matter to a Consultative Council under the last preceding subsection are as follows, that is to say,—

(a) where the consumer's request to the Board to enter into or renew an agreement has been refused, that, owing to special circumstances, the tariffs in force in the area are not appropriate to him;
(b) where the consumer's request to the Board to vary the terms of an agreement have been refused, that, owing to a change of circumstances since the agreement was made, its terms have ceased to be reasonable;
(c) in any other case, that the terms proposed by the Board are unreasonable.

(5) Where a matter is referred to a Consultative Council under subsection (3) of this section, then, without prejudice to any functions of the Consultative Council or of the Electricity Council under section seven of the principal Act,—

(a) if it appears to the Consultative Council that the consumer has established to their satisfaction the grounds on which the matter was referred to them, the Council shall notify their conclusions to the consumer and to the Area Board;
(b) if it appears to the Consultative Council that the consumer has not so established those grounds, the Council shall notify their conclusions to the consumer;
(c) if the consumer is dissatisfied with the conclusions of the Consultative Council, or if (in a case falling within paragraph (a) of this subsection) he claims that the Area Board have failed to give effect to those conclusions, he may refer the matter to the Electricity Council, on the same grounds as those on which the matter was referred to the Consultative Council, subject to any modifications which may be appropriate in view of any subsequent proposal of the Area Board; and
(d) if it appears to the Electricity Council, after consultation with the Area Board and with the Consultative Council, that the consumer has established to the satisfaction of the Electricity Council the grounds on which the matter was referred to them, the Electricity Council may give to the Area Board such advice as they may consider appropriate in the circumstances.

(6) Any reference in this section to a refusal to comply with a request includes a reference to a failure to comply with it within a reasonable time after the request is made. This is an addition to Clause 12. This Amendment is put forward in pursuance 538 of an undertaking given in Standing Committee after my hon. Friend the Member for Clitheroe (Mr. Fort) had moved an Amendment, which he had drafted himself, and which would enable individual consumers to refer to the Electricity Council their disputes with area boards concerning special agreements under Section 37 (7) of the 1947 Act. My hon. Friend was somewhat concerned because the relevant parts of Section 37 were to be repealed and the procedure which was laid down would therefore not be available any longer to the individual consumer. Therefore, something needed to be done about it and this Amendment is our suggested way of doing it.

It provides a formal procedure for consumers to make representations about their special agreements but it requires that, before going to the Electricity Council, a consumer shall first refer the matter to the consultative council for the area. This step we consider necessary because if a consumer to whom an area board refuses a special agreement or offers one on unacceptable terms has a right to go to the Electricity Council in the first instance, the Council may be concerned with too many ill-considered complaints with which it would be wrong to trouble it. Having put forward this procedure, we feel that justice will be done where it is necessary without too much fuss, and that the procedure should give satisfaction.