Prepayment Meters

Clive Efford Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The entire debate around fuel costs when prices were spiking was about the impact on vulnerable people and people who would have to make the choice between heating and eating, and sometimes not being able to make a choice about either. Why, then, did it take Citizens Advice to expose this scandal and the fact that the Government have been asleep at the wheel? The only way to sort this out, when forced entry warrants have been issued on an industrial scale by magistrates courts, is to impose a moratorium, so that we make sure that no one who has a prepayment imposed on them is forced into a situation where they cannot afford to pay fuel costs. That is surely the minimum that the Government should do.

[Graham Stuart]

As I have made clear to the House, the Government are absolutely calling for suppliers to do everything possible to avoid doing this, and I think that we are already seeing movement as a result of that call.