HC Deb 14 June 1976 vol 913 cc17-9
13. Mr. Gow

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will issue a general direction to the gas and electricity industries not to raise prices by more than 10 per cent. during the remainder of the year.

16. Mr. Cryer

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will issue a general direction to the gas and electricity industries to freeze their prices for the coming 12 months.

Mr. Benn

Any proposals for gas and electricity price increases must be within the Price Code, and will be most carefully scrutinised by both the Price Commission and the Government.

Mr. Gow

Will the Secretary of State confirm that it is the Government's policy that there should be no further subsidies to consumers of gas and electricity?

Mr. Benn

The hon. Gentleman knows that we inherited from the previous Government the most chaotic structure and that the fuel industries had been driven into loss by Government policy. The hon. Gentleman also knows what the policy of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as announced in 1974, has been. As a result of the increase in prices—notably in electricity, which has more than doubled in two years—serious hardship has been caused. We are seeking to tackle the problem in as many ways as we can, but the basic economic decision announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in 1974 stands.

Mr. Cryer

In view of the pressures to relax the Price Code, does not my right hon. Friend believe that it would be a good idea to recommend to the gas and electricity boards that they should freeze their prices for 12 months? Would it not be a good thing if they followed the lead of British Rail? Is it not true that increases in gas and electricity prices particularly affect families on low incomes? Would not a price freeze be greatly welcomed by them?

Mr. Benn

The problem of rising prices is central to the problems facing the country as a whole. I do not dispute that price freezes all round would be welcomed, but questions about the Price Code would have to be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General. We have tried, in so far as it falls within the remit of my Department, which is quite narrow in this respect, to examine various aspects, including the suspension of disconnections for old people, the review that my hon. friend the Under-Secretary undertook, and creative participation in discussions on how to deal with the hardship suffered by those who are undoubtedly badly affected by increased prices. As every hon. Member knows, those people include, in particular, the weekly wage earner, who may suddenly be confronted with short-time working and unemployment. The normal electricity bill is of a scale and magnitude that is exceptionally difficult for him to cope with. That is why prepayment meters and the other proposals made by my hon. Friend merit very careful consideration. It is a difficult question. We are not helped by being reminded by Conservative Members of the mess we inherited from them.