§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the volume of road fuels consumed in the year 2000; what he expects this figure to be if the duties on road fuels were adjusted solely in line with the retail prices index; and if he will make a statement. [20918]
§ Mr. NorrisThe Government's latest projections of future energy demand for the whole economy to the year 2020 were recently published in energy paper 65 "Energy Projections for the UK", as announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and Energy on 8 March 1995. From this, the demand for road fuels is expected to be in the range of 39 to 41 million tonnes in 2000, which takes account of the effect of the Government's strategy of increases in the duties on road fuels of at least 5 per cent, a year on average above the rate of inflation. If fuel duty increases were kept in line with the rate of inflation, demand in 2000 would be between 42 and 44 million tonnes.