§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy what the average price rise of electricity would have been if the board had been free to introduce a single rise for the year 1980–81 in April of the current year, rather than introducing a two-stage rise in April and August as requested by the Government.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe size and the timing of tariff increases are matters for the industry. In order to mitigate the impact on consumers, the Government asked the electricity boards to phase the increase required this year in two stages. I understand that, had there been a single increase from 1 April, the average rise in domestic tariff could have been about 25 per cent.