HC Deb 03 March 1978 vol 945 cc435-6W
Mr. Stephen Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many gas meters were checked by his Department at the specific request of consumers during 1977; how many were found to be

Mr. Benn

The following table gives the information for the years for which comparable figures are available for all the countries mentioned:

faulty; and what has been the average percentage of meters discovered to be inaccurate during the past 10 years.

Dr. J. Dickson Mabon

The latest readily available figures are for the year ended 31st March 1977, in which 9,909 meters were re-examined as a consequence of a dispute between the consumer and the British Gas Corporation as to accuracy. Of those, 4,952 were found to under-read or over-read by more than the permitted tolerance, and a further 2,015 to be faulty in some other respect. From 1st April 1968 to 31st March 1977, the average percentage found to under-read or over-read by more than the permitted tolerance was 51.4 per cent. and a further 21.1 per cent. were found otherwise faulty.