Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to reduce the standing charge on domestic household bills, and (2) to charge this to the recent profits announced by electricity distribution companies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The setting of the standing charge is a commercial matter for individual suppliers. Under the Price Cap, a supplier’s default and standard variable tariffs unit rate and standing charge together must not exceed the level of the cap set by Ofgem.
The profits made by distribution network companies are regulated by Ofgem through the price control to ensure sufficient incentives for networks to deliver for consumers, whilst protecting consumers from high costs. The next price control begins in April, where returns for these companies will be set lower than previous price controls.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the severe cold weather on vulnerable households, and (2) the ability of those residents on pre-payment meters to pay their energy bills.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Suppliers are required to offer vulnerable households with prepayment meters short-term support through emergency and friendly-hours credit and additional support credit if needed. The Government has put in place support worth over £37bn to assist consumers, including those with prepayment meters, with recent rises in the cost of living. The household support fund, assisting those most in need, has also been extended to March of this year. Support for eligible households is also available through the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and the Cold Weather Payment.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the severe cold weather on (1) vulnerable households, and (2) the ability of those residents on pre-payment meters to access Government help with household bills; and what steps they will take to facilitate access to support for the most vulnerable households.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is delivering the Energy Bills Support Scheme, a £400 non-repayable grant to support all families with their energy bills. Additionally, the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter.
The Government is currently reviewing the EPG. This consultation will ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk of having to pay more.
Customers with smart prepayment meters have the credit applied to their meter automatically, and those with traditional prepayment meters should have received discount vouchers sent via SMS text, email, post or a Special Action Message. Electricity suppliers have reported that, as of 1 December, they had issued 4,044,554 vouchers to customers with traditional prepayment meters.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the continuation of the independent Groceries Code Adjudicator; and whether they plan to extend the role to allow the adjudicator to open an investigation on their own initiative.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is currently undertaking the third statutory review of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and is considering the results of the public consultation that ended on 11 October. The consultation sought views on a range of issues including abolishing the GCA, transferring the GCA functions to another public body and whether the GCA has sufficient powers. The Government will carefully consider the views and evidence received and our conclusions will be published and a report laid before Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the price cap to fuels such as (1) Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), (2) Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), (3) heating oil, and (4) solid fuels such as coal.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has no plans to introduce a price cap on alternative fuels.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to cap the price of (1) oil, (2) liquefied petroleum gas, and (3) other heating fuels, not currently covered by the energy price cap.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has carefully considered the introduction of a price cap to help domestic fuel customers with high fuel prices, however analysis indicates that a cap would not be in the long-term interests of consumers.
The existing gas and electricity price cap was designed to protect consumers on default tariffs from the loyalty penalty, which the Competitions and Markets Authority warned was causing customers to be overcharged. The structure of the heating oil and LPG markets is different and imposing a price cap below wholesale costs would drive companies out of the market, reducing competition and possibly result in supply shortages.