§ Sir Trevor Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the establishment of the Office of Gas Supply.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe Gas Bill, currently before Parliament, provides for the setting up of an Office of Gas Supply to regulate the affairs of the gas supply industry. It is intended that, subject to the enactment of the Bill, the body will be established later this year as an independent non-ministerial Department headed by the Director-General of Gas Supply responsible to Parliament for the expenditure of the office. Parliament will be asked to vote an allocation of funds for the office in the Summer Supplementary Estimate. It is intended that the costs estimated to be £1.6 million in 1986–87 (including a running cost limit of 1.056 million) will be recovered from authorisation fees paid by gas suppliers and the estimate will, therefore, be a token one.