Electricity Supply Industry Privatisation (Hansard, 27 April 1988)

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, the electricity consumer organisations have generally welcomed the Government's proposals.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, will my noble friend consider very carefully the setting up of a regulatory authority, which needs to have teeth, and a consumers' authority, which must make itself available to hear complaints from millions of clients? Have the Government made up their minds whether this should be one body? Can they be sure that when people are deprived of a high quality electricity service they will be compensated for any losses and inconvenience that they may have suffered?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, no detailed decisions about future arrangements have yet been taken. We shall be consulting with existing consumer councils to take advantage of their experience and advice before any decision is made. Privatisation will put real power into the hands of the consumer. Prices and standards of service will be regulated. There will be guarantees of standards, penalties for poor performance by the new companies, and compensation for the consumer.

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, how can the noble Viscount reconcile the first Answer he gave to his noble friend with the fact that yesterday afternoon 15 organisations met upstairs at an all-party gathering to express their anxieties about the privatisation of electricity, and this included a representative of the National Consumer Council? Is his information up to date or have things moved on since he first obtained it?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, my information is not quite as up to date as that of the noble Baroness as I was not aware of that meeting upstairs. If there are any worries or concerns, now is the time to put them to my right honourable friend. I would remind the House that the Bill is still in its early stages of preparation.

§ Baroness Burton of Coventry
My Lords, is the Minister aware that his reply is most surprising? Is he further aware that it in no way conforms with what 204 I have heard from the consumer organisations about the proposed privatisation of electricity? Can he tell the House which organisations have approved of privatisation and which have not; or has he not heard from any of them?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, the chairman of the Electricity Consumers' Council, John Hatch, has praised our White Paper proposals as "imaginative", and said that it looks as if customers are being put first.

§ Lord Renton
My Lords, has it yet been decided what powers the Secretary of State for Energy will have after privatisation?

§ Viscount Davidson
No, my Lords, not yet.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that vast areas of this country would not have received electrification when they did had it not been for nationalisation? This is especially true of the rural areas. Is he aware that in these rural areas in England, Scotland and Wales there is currently profound worry about the possible consequences of privatisation? Will he confirm that if at the end of the day public opinion appears clearly to be against privatisation, the Government will withdraw their proposals?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, it is beyond me to comment on that. It would be a matter for my right honourable friend. With respect to the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition, he is moving a little far from the Question on the Order Paper. I should tell the House that a debate on the White Paper has been arranged through the usual channels for Friday 20th May, when we may discuss this matter much more fully.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, has it come to the Government's attention that electricity consumers in the south-west of England are concerned about impending price increases which they think, rightly or wrongly, are being made in preparation for the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear reactor, which they do not want at all?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I shall write to the noble Lord on that point.

§ Baroness Burton of Coventry
My Lords, in keeping exactly to the Question on the Order Paper I can only assume that the Minister did not hear my question. I know what John Hatch said, but I asked the Minister whether he could give the House the names of those organisations which had written to him either in favour of the proposition or against it.

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I shall certainly write to the noble Baroness.

§ Baroness Burton of Coventry
My Lords, I do not want a letter. Is the Minister aware that it is a long way round to have to wait for letters? I have asked him a simple question. The Question on the Order Paper from the noble Lord, Lord Orr-Ewing, asks him about the response. I am elaborating on that. 205 May I ask him which organisations have written to him in favour and which have written to him against, or has he heard from none?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I do not have the answer in my brief. I shall not write to the noble Baroness; I shall ring her up.