§ Mr. AmosTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many United Kingdom filling stations have offered unleaded petrol for sale for the first time over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what is the total number of filling stations currently selling unleaded petrol in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryAbout 17,000 of the 20,000 petrol stations in the United Kingdom now stock unleaded petrol. In the last 12 months around 14,000 of these started selling the fuel for the first time. The United Kingdom has fully complied with the European directive that required member states to ensure the availability and balanced distribution of unleaded petrol from 1 October 1989. The dramatic increase in outlets has greatly assisted the
156W
£ million 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 (1) Local authority borrowing 42 1,018 2,246 2,042 1,703 2,152 2,588 (2) Gross capital expenditure 4,875 5,569 5,852 5,298 5,205 5,919 n/a (3) Total gross expenditure 33,835 36,533 38,488 40,242 41,998 45,479 n/a successful campaign efforts of the Government, the private sector and voluntary groups, which have encouraged many motorists to switch to unleaded petrol during the year.