§ Mr. ByersTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his reply of 22 May,Official Report, column 418, if he will give the dates and the parties involved in the later stages of consultation over the draft licences following the introduction of competition into the domestic gas market. [26287]
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 25 May 19951: As part of the preparation for public consultation, my Department and the Office of Gas Supply held a meeting on 9 March to discuss the draft conditions with Alliance Gas Ltd., Bell Gas Ltd., Eastern Electricity plc, Mobil Gas Marketing Ltd., National Power PLC, and Vector Gas Ltd. My Department sent some earlier draft material to Amerada Hess Gas Ltd. on 27 January. Draft conditions were also discussed on various occasions with British Gas plc.
67WInformation gained in these discussions helped in preparing the technical aspects of the drafts which were issued for public consultation on 20 and 27 March. My Department is considering the responses to the draft licences.