§ 11. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Minister of Power when North Sea gas will be available to consumers in the West Midlands; and what will be the price compared with that of present supplies.
§ Dr. BrayLimited supplies should be available to the West Midlands Board next summer. These will provide an additional source of feedstock for the production of town gas to which the board's standard tariffs will apply. The board is also considering using some of the supplies of natural gas to carry out a pilot scheme for the conversion of a group of consumers to direct supply.
§ Mrs. ShortMy hon. Friend has not answered the last part of my Question. May I remind him that my constituents are very concerned about this? They are anxious to see plentiful supplies of cheap gas and they want to see some publicly-owned holes being drilled to get supplies and not only private enterprise holes.
§ Dr. BrayThere are publicly-owned holes. Clearly, the question of price can only be dealt with at the time. In the case of the West Midlands, we are dealing with a pilot scheme. My hon. Friend will be aware that when a pioneer scheme was carried out at Canvey Island, there was a reduction in price of a penny a therm, but that is not necessarily a precedent for elsewhere.
§ Mr. BarberWill the hon. Gentleman say whether it is the general policy of the Government to supply North Sea gas in the first place to industry or to domestic consumers?
§ Dr. BrayThat is a point which must depend on the price and quantity of gas available. We shall be in a position to deal with this when we complete our fuel policy review.