HC Deb 23 October 1989 vol 158 cc296-7W
Dr. Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what quality of service objectives have been set for British Gas with regard to priority attention for elderly customers and those with small children requiring work to be done on hot water and heating systems; and to what extent the actual levels of service correspond to those objectives.

Mr. Peter Morrison

These are matters for the Gas Consumers Council and the Director General of Gas Supply to take up with British Gas.

In relation to the elderly and disabled, British Gas has a code of practice on special services, as required by condition 13 of its authorisation.

The recent Gas Consumers Council report, "Review of British Gas Services for Elderly and Disabled Consumers", recommended that elderly and disabled people, particularly those with special heating or hot water requirements, should receive priority attention for emergency repair work.

The Director General of Gas Supply has called on British Gas to implement those recommendations in the GCC report addressed to it and to agree to a change in its authorisation that would give them legal force.