§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Energy if, following the Chancellor's Budget Statement on 10 March 1981, he will give further details of the reasons why a reduction in a heavy fuel oil tax from £8 a ton to the average in the rest of the European Economic Community of £2 a ton, would put up the cost of gas purchased by the British Gas Corporation; what the other consequences referred to in his statement would have been; and what the cost would be if he reduced heavy fuel oil tax to the average in the rest of the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe effect of a reduction in heavy fuel oil duty on the cost of gas purchased by the British Gas Corporation results from provisions in confidential contracts between BGC and its suppliers. The magnitude of this effect is a matter for the corporation. The size of direct effects on the Exchequer resulting from a reduction in HFO duty is a matter for the Chancellor.