§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is to be the expenditure in 1978–79 on war reserve stocks for each of the three Services; and how this compares in current £ sterling with similar expenditure in the past three years.
§ Dr. GilbertOn a constant price basis, the information is as follows:
in the domestic market on a calorific basis coal, solid smokeless fuels, electricity, gas, oil and kerosene.
§ Dr. John CunninghamThe table below gives prices charged for fuels at the end of 1977 in a selection of towns chosen to reflect geographical variations in such prices.
The prices have been calculated on the basis of "heat supplied" but the useful heat available to the consumer depends additionally upon the efficiency of the appliance used.
Solid fuel prices are for quantities between 5 cwts and 9 cwts, but variations in price may occur for larger or smaller deliveries and also between merchants. The prices for gas oil and standard grade burning oil are for deliveries of about 2,275 litres (500 gallons) and 900 litres (200 gallons) respectively, such quantities being those generally taken by consumers for domestic central heating installations.
The scheduled oil prices shown do not include discounts which are sometimes available. The paraffin prices are the maximum chargeable, and usually relate to purchases of small amounts—say, up to five gallons—used for portable or small appliances.
It seems likely that consumers who purchase small quantities of electricity and gas will use these fuels only for lighting, cooking and power and not for space heating.
177W
TYPICAL RETAIL FUEL PRICES IN GREAT BRITAIN—(DECEMBER 1977) Pence per Therm Aberdeen Cardiff Edinburgh Leeds London Nottingham Plymouth SOLID FUELS Domestic coal … … … … … … 17.0 15.5 15.4 13.0 17.0 12.8 17.5 Anthracite nuts 1 … … … … … … 21.7 18.8 20.4 18.9 21.0 18.8 22.1 Sunbrite … … … … … … 21.8 n.q. 21.5 18.7 21.1 18.5 24.9 Coalite (large) … … … … … … 27.4 n.q 26.0 21.8 25.9 21.9 28.4 ELECTRICITY Annual consumption— 2 500kwh … … … … … … 78.6 91.5 75.7 87.7 93.2 85.4 93.7 5,000 kwh … … … … … … 70.2 84.9 70.4 81.3 86.5 79.1 86.1 10,000 kwh … … … … … … 55.1 61.0 50.4 55.8 62.7 56.0 59.0 GAS Annual consumption— 80 therms … … … … … … 29.3 29.3 29.3 25.8 29.3 23.8 29.3 400 therms … … … … … … 21.2 21.2 21.2 19.4 21.2 18.9 21.2 1,200 therms … … … … … … 17.3 17.3 17.3 16.7 17.3 16.5 17.3 Gas oil … … … … … … 24.2 24.1 24.1 24.2 24.1 24.2 24.3 Standard grade burning oil … … … … … … 25.0 24.7 24.7 24.9 24.7 24.9 24.9 Paraffin (Class 1) … … … … … … 29.7 29.4 29.4 29.7 29.4 29.7 29.7 178W
NOTE: n.q.=Not quoted. The calorific values used are averages provided by the industries; most are quoted in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1977.