Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of green deal mis-selling by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Limited.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
In Green Deal mis-selling cases, my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has power to reduce or cancel loans where there has been a breach of the relevant rules, and she is satisfied the consumer has suffered, or is likely to suffer, substantive loss. The financial impact of sanctions falls to the loan provider.
Public expenditure relating to mis-selling by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Limited is limited to legal costs plus initial case reviews by the Financial Ombudsman Service, estimated at approximately £324,000. There are also staff and administration costs, but it is not possible to provide an estimate of these without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the (a) total and (b) average credit balance that has been accrued to energy companies as a result of overpayment via direct debit by domestic customers in the period since 1 September 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government does not hold this information.
Ofgem have rules designed to limit the accrual of excessive customer credit, and conducted a Market Compliance Review of these rules in summer 2022. Following their review, Ofgem report that almost a million customers had their direct debits assessed, and £117,580 of adjustments and repayments have been made by suppliers as of 2 February 2023.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/direct-debit-market-compliance-review-progress-update
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulatory arrangements for the price of wholesale electricity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), the Government is assessing the current set of regulatory arrangements for the price of wholesale electricity (among other aspects of the market). The Government will publish the conclusions of this assessment in the second consultation in the Autumn.