§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the consumption of petrol since the introduction of the new speed limits to the latest convenient date; and how this compares with the same period a year earlier.
§ Mr. John SmithThe new speed limits were imposed on 15th December 1974 and information on deliveries into consumption of motor spirit in that month are not yet available. However, a comparison with information for the same period a year earlier would be affected by other factors including the supply difficulties that existed at that time and the increases in price that have occurred during the past 12 months.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report the monthly consumption of motor vehicle fuel for each month of 1973 and 1974.
§ Mr. John SmithThe Department only collects data on the deliveries into consumption of motor vehicle fuels. Changes in the level of stocks held by independent distributors, retailers and consumers may mask the actual consumption. Monthly deliveries into consumption are given in the "Monthly Digest of Statistics" (Table 68) and in "Energy Trends" (Table 16). For convenience the complete 155W run of figures requested, so far as available, is given below:
DELIVERIES INTO CONSUMPTION OF MOTOR SPIRIT, 1973 AND 1974 '000 tons Derv 1973 Motor Spirit Total Derv 1974 Motor Spirit Total January 442 1,242 1,684 448 1,191 1,639 February 428 1,192 1,620 434 1,122 1,556 March 495 1,415 1,910 459 1,262 1,721 April 436 1,389 1,825 436 1,329 1,765 May 483 1,457 1,940 465 1,430 1,895 June 461 1,438 1,899 446 1,350 1,796 July 453 1,506 1,959 465 1,500 1,965 August 443 1,579 2,022 417 1,504 1,921 September 443 1,402 1,845 442 1,373 1,815 October 543 1,510 2,053 500 1,487 1,987 November 522 1,414 1,936 496 (p) 1,386 (p) 1,882(p) December 420 1,115 1,535 Not available January-November 5,149 15,514 20,693 5,008 14,934 19,942 January-December 5,569 16,659 22,228 Not available