Gas Industry (Hansard, 11 May 1994)

§ 4. Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he last met the Director General of Ofgas to discuss consumer protection.

§ Mr. Eggar
On Monday.

§ Mr. Lloyd
Has the Minister had an opportunity to discuss with Ofgas the British Gas meter replacement programme, about which I have asked him before? Specifically, will he confirm that Ofgas has now agreed that British Gas can complete the programme by 1996, a year later than originally planned? Can he justify an 304 arrangement that will mean consumers paying more for gas that they do not actually receive, and the loss of jobs in the meter manufacturing industry?

§ Mr. Eggar
I am aware of the hon. Gentleman's concern. I have not had a chance to discuss the matter with the director general, but, prompted by the hon. Gentleman's question, I will be sure to do so.

§ Mr. Dunn
Will my hon. Friend confirm that gas consumers will be protected from any real increase in gas prices, at least until 1997?

§ Mr. Eggar
The price cap that currently applies to British Gas—RPI minus 4—will continue to apply. My hon. Friend will have had a chance to study the consultation document, and will know of the ways in which we are trying to deal with the various transitional issues surrounding, in particular, the elderly and disabled.

Mr. O'Neill
After the general election in 1997 or 1998, will the Minister still be in a position to guarantee that there will be no losers? He will be aware that the regulator, the managing director of Alliance Gas and the director of the Gas Consumers Council have all said that there will be losers as a consequence of what was announced this week. Can the Minister guarantee that they are wrong, and that no one will have to pay higher gas prices—particularly the lower paid and disadvantaged, who, as everyone agrees, will be most vulnerable?

§ Mr. Eggar
I share the hon. Gentleman's certainty that I shall be on the Government Benches in 1998 and will be the Minister for Energy at that time. The Opposition are scaremongering. In 1985, during a debate on the privatisation of British Gas, the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman said: There is no evidence that the Bill"— the privatisation Bill— will improve efficiency, provide a better service or produce cheaper gas."—[Official Report, 10 December 1985; Vol. 88, c.780.] The Opposition were wrong then and they are wrong now. They were scaremongering then and they are scaremongering now. They should be more responsible.

§ Sir Peter Emery
It is right that the consultative document should work to help the Government to obtain greater competition in the industry, but will my hon. Friend deal with the fears that have been whipped up by the Liberal Democrats, particularly in the west country, where they are saying that the west country will have appreciably higher gas prices than the rest of the country? I should like to hear my hon. Friend's view on that.

§ Mr. Eggar
There is a lot of scaremongering by the Liberal Democrats as well as by the Labour party on this issue. It is true that, on certain assumptions, there may be an increase of about 17p per week for the average consumer in the far south-west as a result of transportation charges. However, competitors of British Gas believe that they will be able to reduce prices to the average gas consumer by about 70p a week. In other words, rather than being worse off, the average south-west gas consumer, will be considerably better off as a result of competition.