Mr Timothy Eggar: rose—
Mr Timothy Eggar: I welcome the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) to his new role. To the last of his questions I answer, "No."
Mr Timothy Eggar: I hold discussions with the Director-General of Electricity Supply on a regular basis.
Mr Timothy Eggar: As the hon. Lady knows, that matter is shortly to be considered by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, so it would be wrong for me to comment on it at this stage.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Privatisation has brought enormous benefits to electricity consumers. Prices have fallen by 9 per cent. in real terms over the past two years, and next year prices for the average electricity consumer will be £90 lower than they were last year. My hon. Friend is right to say that further reductions beyond next year are in the pipeline.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Assuming that the hon. Gentleman has lived in the Northern area of electricity provision for many years, I might point out that for the first time he will already have had, and will have in future, a real reduction in the price of his electricity—a feat never achieved before, and certainly not under nationalisation.
Mr Timothy Eggar: My hon. Friend is right to say that the electricity regulator must, under statute, take account of the interests both of consumers and of the financial situation of the companies that he regulates. It is a matter of company law, not peculiar to the electricity industry, that, once 90 per cent. acceptances have been received, there is effectively a compulsory right for the acquiring company to...
Mr Timothy Eggar: The independent Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate continues to monitor closely the safe operation of all UK nuclear installations. The Government will not permit any weakening of the existing regulatory regime, nor of the safety standards currently in force.
Mr Timothy Eggar: I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has at least tried to produce a new soundbite. That is a relief to us. He should have a word with his hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) and must try to ring the changes rather more often. On the substance of the question, I would take Mr. Killick's comments rather more seriously if he had raised them with Scottish Nuclear and if he...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. This Government will do nothing to imperil nuclear safety. The NII is the independent arbiter of the continuance of the extremely high safety standards which have been such a feature of the British nuclear industry.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Remuneration in the private sector is a matter for the companies concerned and for their shareholders.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Under the terms of the golden share, it could not be used for that purpose. That was very clear when the companies were floated. The hon. Gentleman ought to do more research. He appears not to be aware that the right hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair), who led for the Opposition on the Electricity Bill, never once, throughout the entire passage of that Bill, raised on the Floor of the...
Mr Timothy Eggar: In terms of the monopoly utilities, which will, of course, shortly be exposed to the competitive market, consumers do not suffer from excessive payments to directors because, under the way in which the regulation works, any increase in pay comes off the return to shareholders. It is not added to the costs to consumers. The hon. Gentleman should understand that.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Nobody condones excessive pay increases or remuneration packages, but the hon. Lady fails to recognise the considerable contribution that the privatised utilities have made to reducing bills. For example, if the announcement that Professor Littlechild made last week is implemented, it will result in a £9 reduction in the average electricity bill for the average consumer. Moreover, there has...
Mr Timothy Eggar: My hon. Friend is right. If the industries had still been nationalised, we should be seeing rising rather than falling prices, massive overmanning and inefficiency. My hon. Friend might be aware that, as a result of the recent announcements on electricity prices, the average electricity consumer may spend about £75 less on his electricity bill in the coming year than he did last year. That...
Mr Timothy Eggar: The hon. Gentleman and the rest of the Opposition do not seem to recognise that such issues are the responsibility of the private sector directors and the chairmen and boards of the companies. What Mr. Giordano has said is a matter for him. Of course the Government will take account of any recommendations by the Greenbury committee when we receive them, and if appropriate we shall not...
Mr Timothy Eggar: Of course the taxpayer benefits from the contribution made by individuals who receive high wages. At the end of the day what matters to consumers is the fact that their bills come down in real terms. That has been achieved for both gas and electricity as a direct result of Government policies that the Opposition have consistently opposed.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Not for the first time, the hon. Gentleman is wrong. There has been a real decrease in electricity prices of 8 per cent. in the past two years, and we can look forward to further considerable decreases in electricity prices in real and perhaps nominal terms in the coming months. With regard to the hon. Gentleman's other point, why do the Opposition constantly peddle the politics of envy?...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I have had meetings and communications as appropriate with Shell on that matter.
Mr Timothy Eggar: There were, of course, three years of extensive studies carried out by Shell. The major document is now in the public domain, and has been since 16 February. The Brent Spar is now moored in a Norwegian fjord. Shell is inviting an independent inspection entity, DNV, to inspect and analyse the allegations that have been made by Greenpeace and to report on them fully and independently. As for...
