§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
If they will publish a table showing the movements in the Supplementary Benefits Commission scale rate heating allowance since June 1973, and the average cost per kilowatt hour of electricity sold to domestic consumers in England and Wales in each quarter over the same period.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLThe supplementary benefit scale rates laid down by the Supplementary Benefit Act cover all normal requirements such as food, clothing and heating but are not divided into separate allowances for each expense. They provide a general level of income which varies with the size of the family and which the beneficiary is left to allocate in the way that suits him best. There are therefore no fixed amounts for heating in the scale rates, but the Commission have adopted standard amounts for heating in specified benefit calculations,996WA for example in determining the net rent where the rent paid is inclusive of heating. These amounts were in June 1973, £1.20 where heating only was involved and £1.35 where all fuel requirements were included. They were increased in July 1974 to £1.60 and £1.80 respectively, and in November 1975 to £2.20 and £2.50 respectively; an overall increase of about 83 per cent.
I regret that information about electricity costs is available for Great Britain only and from the 1st quarter of £1974 to the 3rd quarter of 1975. This is as follows:
Average selling value per Kwh sold to domestic consumers in Great Britain pence 1974 1st quarter … … … 0.925 2nd quarter … … … 1.068 3rd quarter … … … 1.465 4th quarter … … … 1.313 1975 1st quarter … … … 1.274 2nd quarter … … … 1.615 3rd quarter … … … 2.218