§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions she has had with the Director General of Offer over the timetable for the introduction of competition in the domestic electricity market. [4396]
§ Mr. BattleI have had discussions with the Director General on many of the strategic issues on the 1998 electricity supply market liberalisation. At my request, he made a report on the current status of the programme of work, and his proposals for future progress to a timely and successful conclusion. PA Consulting, the Overall Programme Managers for the electricity market liberalisation, also produced a report. Both of these reports were published on 29 May. Recently, the Director 391W General and I met the Chief Executives of the Public Electricity Suppliers and the Electricity Pool to discuss the practical implementation of the proposals. It was agreed that the Director General's proposals should be accepted as the basis to take the programme forward.