§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide additional resources to(a) the Office of Fair Trading, (b) the Office of Gas Supply, and (c) the Gas Consumers Council to reflect their increased work load as a consequence of additional responsibilities contained in the Gas Bill.
§ Mr. EggarI do not believe that the Gas Bill will add materially to the responsibilities of the Office of Fair Trading and the Gas Consumers Council. The number of Ofgas staff will rise by about 50 when the Director General of Gas Supply takes over the DTI's functions for gas metering as envisaged under the Gas Bill. In addition, some 10 to 20 posts plus consultancy support may be needed at Ofgas to manage the transition to a competitive market, although this should fall once a fully competitive market is established.