Mr. O'NeillTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment his Department has made of the expected effect of the imposition of value added tax for domestic fuel bills on(a) energy consumption, (b) the demand for electricity and (c) the market for coal-fired electricity.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 25 March 1993]: The impact of introducing VAT at the standard rate would reduce energy consumption and electricity demand in the aggregate by less than 1 per cent. Decisions in the market place would determine the effect on coal-fired among sources of electricity.