Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, if he will publish a list of supplier redemption rates for the Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the first 3 months of the Energy Bills Support Scheme energy suppliers issued 6,020,560 (99%) vouchers to customers with traditional prepayment meters, of which 4,261,940 (71%) had been redeemed by end December, an increase from 66% in the previous month.
Supplier redemption rates have now been published. Full details are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-payments-made-by-electricity-suppliers-to-customers.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2023 to Question 114828 on Powers of Entry: Meters, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of amending legislation to require energy suppliers to demonstrate that they are acting as a last resort in seeking a warrant to install a prepayment meter.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has set out a 5-point plan on prepayment meters including coordination with Ofgem to ensure that it takes a more robust approach to the protection of vulnerable customers and conducts a review to make sure energy suppliers are complying with rules.
Additionally, the Secretary of State is working with Ofgem and my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure that the process by which suppliers bring cases to court to obtain a warrant is fair, transparent and supports vulnerable customers.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, whether his Department has conducted an assessment to compare the potential effect of customers of his call for suppliers to voluntarily stop the practice of forced prepayment switching with requiring energy suppliers by regulation to stop forced prepayment switching.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is focused on helping energy customers, especially those in vulnerable circumstances, through the cost-of-living crisis. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s call for suppliers to stop voluntarily the practice of forced prepayment switching is one part of the 5-point plan on prepayment meters. A blanket ban on prepayment meter switching as a last resort could lead to an increase in bailiff action and physical disconnections. The Government has no plans to remove this option.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, what steps he is taking to ensure that the process by which energy suppliers bring warrant cases to court for prepayment meter installation is fair, transparent and supports vulnerable customers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked Ofgem to do more to ensure suppliers protect vulnerable consumers. This includes revisiting their approach to compliance enforcement, as well as the urgent publication of recent investigations into outcomes for vulnerable customers.
Ofgem will be carrying out a review with a focus on forced installations, and the checks and balances suppliers have around any decision to put a customer on a prepayment meter. Furthermore, Ofgem will continue to look at the rules around mandatory moves to prepayment meters, when a court warrant can be applied for, and the steps that need to be taken first.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, if he will publish supplier data on the number of warrant applications that have been made to forcibly enter homes to install energy prepayment meters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As part of my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s 5-point plan regarding prepayment meters, he has written to energy suppliers asking that they share the number of warrants that they have applied for in recent months, and Ofgem has encouraged suppliers to be fully transparent with their data around prepayment meter warrants.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, whether his Department has proposed specific levels of additional credit and debt forgiveness that energy suppliers have been asked to consider to help consumers in payment difficulties.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department has not proposed specific levels of additional credit and debt forgiveness. I discussed matters related to support for energy customers on prepayment meters with stakeholders, including energy supply companies, at a roundtable on Wednesday 25 January.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, if he will publish his letter to energy suppliers of 22 January 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The letter from my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State to energy suppliers has been published and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/business-secretary-warns-energy-suppliers-to-end-mistreatment-of-customers.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has submitted an Impact Assessment for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill to the Regulatory Policy Committee.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is currently finalising an impact assessment of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. This will be published shortly.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increased regulation in the private parcel market to ensure user needs are being met by the market.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulill its functions in relation to postal services.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
The Government has no plans to seek change to the statutory requirements in this sector.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing delivery service targets for parcel operators other than Royal Mail.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulill its functions in relation to postal services.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect consumers.
The Government has no plans to seek change to the statutory requirements in this sector.