HC Deb 05 July 1976 vol 914 c944
7. Mr. Mike Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether she is yet in a position to give her views on the interim report of the National Consumer Council on fuel prices and low income consumers.

Mr. John Fraser

The Government are considering this report together with the reports from my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Energy and the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries.

Mr. Thomas

Why do the Government always allow the electricity and gas industries another bite at the cherry in this matter? They made their views known to the National Consumer Council, the Select Committee to which my hon. Friend has referred and to the committee of my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes (Mr. Oakes). Those views are well known and were evaluated. The Government are now apparently to take them into account yet again. Why?

Mr. Fraser

My hon. Friend is being too pessimistic if he thinks that those industries will have a complete second bite at the cherry. The Government recognise the importance of reaching decisions on those reports, especially so far as they affect people in the coming winter.

Mr. Rost

Has the Minister had discussions with departmental colleagues to see whether it is possible to introduce thermal insulation grants for people most in need? Would not that be no more expensive than providing supplementary benefits and meeting fuel bills for those who cannot heat their all-electrically-heated houses, and save energy at the same time?

Mr. Fraser

There is no reason why the hon. Gentleman's suggestion about insulation should not be taken into account, but I do not think that it would deal with everybody's problems in facing high fuel charges. For instance, there are those who are locked into all-electric heating and who do not control it, often in municipal accommodation. We must look at the whole range of measures discussed in the three reports.