Energy Markets Competition Assessment

Christopher Pincher Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

First, for the avoidance of doubt, it will be Ofgem that makes the referral to the Competition and Markets Authority, not me. However, I want to make it clear to the House that we have been acting on competition issues in energy markets from day one in 2010 and will continue to do so. Where evidence is brought to our attention or Ofgem’s that more can be done, we will do it. As I said in my statement, consumers can look forward to our work with the industry to drive forward faster switching times, for example. We want to halve switching times, so that competition works for people and they can get the best deals in the market. We are not going to do nothing during the review; we are going to be very active. However, the review is critical to doing a deep dive and getting a deep analysis of what is going on.

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is quite right to suggest that the vast array of tariffs, which the last Government allowed to proliferate, is one reason why many people are deterred from switching supplier, but so, as he says, is the speed at which one can switch. Will he say a little more about how we will drive down and halve switching times, so that people can enjoy lower energy prices, rather than the frozen prices that the Opposition want, but which, rather oddly, in the same breath they say are too high?

[Mr Davey]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are rather more ambitious than the official Opposition: we want to see low energy prices through competition, not just to freeze them. He is right that reducing the number of tariffs is important—the Labour party refused to do that in government—and the retail market review by Ofgem, which the Labour party wants to abolish, has led to a reduced number of tariffs. As for switching times, which he has focused the House’s attention on, we have already been working with the industry through Energy UK, which has a body working with all other parts of a chain of companies involved in switching customers. We will report later this year on the progress we believe can be made and how it can be made. It is complicated, but we are determined to deliver it.