Andrew Stephenson
Main Page: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Mr Hayes
As I mentioned, transparency and what I described as accessibility or explicability are crucial—the hon. Gentleman is right about that. People need to know how they can get the best deals. We have done a lot of work on that, but we need to do a lot more. We need a simplification of the process, and that has been debated in this House for a considerable time. He makes a good point, which was also made earlier, and we will be drawing it to the close attention of the energy companies and considering it as we develop our own thinking.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
While many households in Pendle are worried about being able to afford their energy bills this winter, millions of pounds available through the Government’s Warm Front scheme go unclaimed. The same applies for the warm home discount, which, as the Minister said, alone represents more than £1.1 billion of support for the poorest households. If these proposals to give people the lowest energy tariff are going to be done through people’s energy bills, may I ask that we take the opportunity also to improve the information contained in those bills about those two important schemes?
Mr Hayes
My hon. Friend will know that one of the features of the energy marketplace in recent years has been a concentration of the number of companies involved. That was not predicted at the time of privatisation; people expected a more plural market, and the competition and downward price pressure that that brings. While the number of companies has shrunk, the number of tariffs has simultaneously grown, by, I understand, something like four-hundredfold. That is not sensible. Whatever the intention, it is leading to a degree of confusion which I think is unhelpful. Better information on bills and a simplification of tariffs, targeted in a way that allows people to get the best possible arrangement, are an absolute priority.