§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether in the light of downward revisions in the forecast demand for 1335WA electricity now published by the Central Electricity Generating Board, they will give updated estimates of electricity sales and simultaneous demand for Great Britain to correspond with the table in paragraph 8, page 51 of the Public Expenditure White Paper, Cmnd. 5879; and whether in addition they will give updated estimates of the Electricity Council and Boards' expenditure on fixed assets to correspond with the figures in table 2.5 of the White Paper.
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISThe Electricity Council announced on 12th March revised forecasts of electricity maximum demand for the 1981–82 winter of 54,000 MW and of 272,000 million kilowatt-hours to be supplied in the 1981–82 financial year. Forecasts for each of the years to 1981–82 are still under review. The Council and Boards are also reviewing their forecast expenditure on fixed assets and their conclusions will be considered by the Government in due course. These are complex issues; Revisions of the Cmnd 5879 figures will be published in the next Public Expenditure White Paper.