Prepayment Meters

Catherine West Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

The speediest way this winter to make an alteration to this is to call on the companies to do everything possible to avoid doing it. Some have already managed to do it. That, of course, throws up the question of whether we should seek a long-term moratorium, and that is something to look at. However, right now, by publishing the data and urging the companies to cease using this except as an absolute last resort, which is supposed to be the requirement in any case, I hope to see those numbers collapse as soon as possible. This is the fastest way we can make a difference now.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

The Minister needs to get a grip. A constituent has written to me saying that she has cut back to having one shower a week. Another says:

“I am mostly washing in cold water, but I’ve recently started getting the beginnings of painful arthritis in my fingers as a result.”

How low do people have to fall before the Government get a grip, take back control and get on top of this problem so that our constituents can have the basics of a good life?

[Graham Stuart]

Of course, the Government are providing an unprecedented three layers of support for consumers: the cost of living support for those on benefits, the £900 reduction in energy bills this winter and the additional £400 energy bills support scheme, as well as help for those on alternative fuels. The Government are bending over backwards, within an unprecedented and tight situation, precisely to help constituents such as those the hon. Lady mentioned, because we have to bear in mind the most vulnerable—those who are struggling, especially on a day like this when it is so horribly cold.