§ Mr. ByersTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date his Department was made aware that the Office of Gas Supply intended to show draft licences under the Gas Bill to independent gas suppliers. [25696]
§ Mr. EggarFollowing a major consultation last year on the introduction of competition into the domestic gas market, the Department and Ofgas followed up the responses received by meeting a number of organisations—both in the industry and consumer groups. In the later stages, DTI and Ofgas discussed draft licence conditions with British Gas and, where appropriate, other parties in the industry. This was necessary to ensure that DTI had a sufficient grasp of the technical issues to 419W publish worthwhile draft licences on 20 and 27 March as the basis for parliamentary consideration and wider consultation.
In addition to the comments made in Committee on the Bill by hon. Members, a variety of parties including the industry, consumer groups and other affected organisations have made detailed comments on the Bill and draft licences to DTI. These will be carefully considered in preparing any Government amendments to the Bill and revising the draft licences.