§ 19. Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to announce the Government's proposals to implement the Oakes Report on fuel payments.
§ Mr. Benn,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th July 1976; Vol. 915, c. 1264–5],gave the following further information:
The Government have commended the report of the fuel payments review to the electricity and gas industries which had already adopted a number of its proposals and are discussing others with the Government.
The Government have agreed with the industries that they should apply a code of practice designed to protect genuine hardship cases from disconnection. This code will also cover the circumstances in which security deposits may be required and will take into account the helpful advice which was given to the fuel payments review by the voluntary organisations. Details have still to be worked out in consultation with the authorities, staffs and unions involved. The code will be published and sent to all electricity and gas consumers. The question of legislation will be kept under review in the light of experience of the working of the Code of Practice.
The Government have also decided to allocate £25 million to help those likely to have the greatest difficulty with fuel bills this winter. A United Kingdom-wide scheme is being worked out to give recipients of supplementary benefit and family income supplement who pay 541W directly to electricity boards a discount on the cost of electricity which is used by virtually everyone and which, in the case of those in all-electric households, tends to lead to the heaviest fuel bills.
It is hoped that it will be possible to reduce bills by the equivalent of about 25 per cent. of the payment for one winter quarter. When details have been worked out, announcements will be made in good time for eligible households to apply for the discount.
The amount of benefit will depend on the size of the bill, but the average consumer may get about £7, the very small consumer less, and very large consumers perhaps £20 to £25. With this assurance of help in the coldest part of the year I hope poor consumers will feel able to use at least as much electricity as they did last year when it was cheaper, and in some cases perhaps a little more. This will also help to increase the demand for coal and to make better use of the capacity in the power stations. The arrangements will take some time to prepare and will require co-operation between the electricity industry and other authorities whose staffs will be asked to help to launch the scheme as early as possible in the coming winter.