Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer by the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation to the Question from the hon. Member for Glasgow North on 17 January 2023, Official Report, column 173, when the roundtable will be convened; if he will take steps to publish the outcome of those discussions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has set out his 5-point plan regarding prepayment meters and Ministers will keep the House updated as this progresses.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish proposals to tackle the enforced installation of energy prepayment meters; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department meets regularly with Ofgem and energy suppliers to discuss energy retail market issues. As my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in the House, officials are working on measures to support PPM consumers and we will act as soon as possible to tackle this issue.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 Leader of the House on 12 January 2023, Official Report col 716, if he will make an oral statement on forced prepayment meter installations.
Answered by Graham Stuart
This matter was raised at BEIS oral questions on 17 January 2023.
Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort. This includes considerations of whether a consumer’s vulnerability makes a prepayment meter a poor choice, for example where medical equipment is required, there is a child under five, or a disability make a prepayment meter unsafe. Suppliers are required to follow specific processes before switching a customer to a prepayment tariff or meter, which are monitored by Ofgem.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 had discussions with Ofgem on strengthening potential sanctions on energy suppliers who do not comply with Ofgem's rules on fitting prepayment meters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ministers and officials regularly meet with Ofgem to discuss a range of energy retail issues.
As the independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for ensuring licensed energy suppliers comply with their rules.
More information can be found at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-completes-review-how-suppliers-support-customers-payment-difficulty.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to analysis from Citizens Advice on prepayment meters, published on 12 January 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that organisation's finding that 3.2 million people ran out of credit on their prepayment meter in 2022 because they could not afford to top up.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ofgem has in place licence conditions regarding Prepayment meter (PPM) customers at risk of self-disconnection. These include requirements on suppliers to offer emergency and friendly-hours credit to all PPM customers and to offer additional support credit to customers in vulnerable circumstances. I have met with suppliers to stress that they must meet their regulatory requirements and do all they can to support customers to stay on supply. I have also asked that Ofgem undertakes further compliance activity in this area. The Government is providing support totalling £900 for the average household this winter, this is in addition to the £400 energy bill discount and extra payments to low-income households and pensioners.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 111702, whether his Department has asked Ofgem for an assessment of the level of compliance with current rules on forced prepayment meter installations.
Answered by Graham Stuart
BEIS Ministers and officials regularly hold discussions with Ofgem and energy suppliers on a range of issues relating to the energy markets.
As the independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for ensuring licensed energy suppliers are complying with their rules. Details of Ofgem’s ongoing supplier compliance and enforcement activity, including individual decisions, are at this link:
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 114793 on Health: Energy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of expected levels of self-disconnection of prepayment meters in winter 2022-23.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government remains committed to protecting consumers from high energy costs, especially the most vulnerable. In the 2022 Autumn statement, the Government announced that households on means-tested benefits will receive an additional £900 Cost of Living payment in 2023-24. Pensioner households will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living payment, and individuals on disability benefits will receive an additional £150 Disability Cost of Living payment in 2023-24. This is additional to the £37 billion support package announced earlier in 2022, with millions of the most vulnerable households receiving at least £1,200 of one-off support to help with the cost of living.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has his Department made of the potential impact on forcible prepayment meter installations on access to Government energy support schemes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort. Forcible installations of prepayment meters (PPMs) for the most vulnerable customers have been banned by Ofgem since 2017.
Government support with energy bills is available to households, regardless of the type of meter they have.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussion he has had with Ofgem about the potential merits of a ban on the forcible installation of prepayment meters this winter.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort, and only where it is safe to do so.
Circumstances under which it is deemed not safe to have a prepayment meter include specific disabilities or illnesses, or having children under five.
If prepayment meters were not used in the market, court enforcement would be the only recourse for suppliers in cases of non-payment and large debt.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 15 December 2022 to Question 107134 on Energy: Meters, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that energy suppliers comply with Ofgem's rules on forcible prepayment meter installations.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for ensuring licensed energy suppliers are complying with their rules.