§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the source of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary's figures on electricity disconnections of 12 November,Official Report, column 318, and publish the full figures.
§ Mr. WakehamThe figures referred to were provided by the Office of Electricity Regulation. The total number of disconnections for the year ending 30 June, which were the latest figures available in November, stood at 62,262, representing 0–33 per cent. of domestic consumers. In 1976 the total was 125,483, representing 0.80 per cent. of domestic consumers.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information is collected systematically by his Department to enable him to discharge his duty under section 3(3)(a)(ii) of the Electricity Act 1989.
§ Mr. WakehamThe Secretary of State's duty to protect the interests of consumers in respect of the continuity of supply was taken into account in placing conditions requiring adherence to matters such as the generation security standard, and the distribution and grid codes in the initial Public Electricity Supply and other licences granted by him under the Electricity Act 1989. Responsibility for monitoring and enforcing those 567W conditions lies with the Director General of Electricity Supply. The electricity supply regulations require my Department to be informed of each case of major supply interruption.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy when the last quarterly figures for electricity disconnections were published.
§ Mr. WakehamThe figures for the year ending 30 September were published by the Office of Electricity Regulation on 12 February. The total number of disconnections during the quarter ending 30 September stood at 14,189, or 0.07 per cent. of all domestic consumers. The number of disconnections for the year ending 30 September was 57,846 or 0.30 per cent. of domestic consumers. The figures for the quarter ending 31 December are expected to be published shortly.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will request the Director General of the Office of Electricity Regulation to initiate a study into the level of cut-offs and voluntary cut-offs during the current cold snap.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe Director General of Electricity Supply continually monitors both the level of disconnections and the regional electricity companies' practices relating to disconnections.