§ Mr. Denzil Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Energy what estimate has been made of the amount by which fuel charges will increase as a result of the £320 million savings announced in the Budget in the finance for the British National Oil Corporation and the electricity, gas and coal industries.
§ Mr. David HowellIn the case of BNOC, nil. In the case of coal, only a small proportion of the price increases recently announced can be attributed to the Budget. The main cause was the need to meet the cash limit announced by the previous Government. In the case of gas and electricity, I understand the industries have yet to decide finally how they will make the savings requested of them. They have however been asked to avoid as far as possible increases in fuel charges beyond those required to meet the cash limits announced by the previous Government, taking into account any increases in their own costs.