§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the therms of gas consumption for domestic use between April to October, 1972, compared with the same figures for the previous year; and what is the estimated consumption for the coming winter.
§ Mr. EmeryCurrently, statistics of gas sales to domestic consumers do not go beyond those for the quarter ended June, 1972. These show that sales for the second quarter of this year were 931 million therms compared with 779 million therms in the equivalent period of 1971. Later figures as they become available will be published in the Monthly Digest of Statistics, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.
Uncertainty about the weather alone makes any prediction of consumption in the coming winter extremely speculative, and not something upon which I would be foolish enough to hazard a view.