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Nesil Caliskan Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

Businesses are under pressure from high energy prices. We know that. Again, I remind Conservative party Members that given their legacy, they should perhaps be a bit more humble about that. We are working with industry and it recognises that the way to drive down energy bills is through clean power. The Confederation of British Industry came out this week saying that our energy revolution is good for business. It is the route to lower energy costs for business and to creating jobs across the country. We have a plan, not just for energy bills but for jobs and the economy, which is rooted in clean energy, and that is much better than the legacy that we have inherited.

[Nesil Caliskan (Barking) (Lab)]

Thousands of my constituents are still dealing with the cost of living crisis, finding themselves in debt because energy prices hit record levels under the previous Government. Energy prices continuing to go up makes those constituents’ lives more difficult, so I welcome the Minister’s statement. Will she, however, provide further reassurance about the immediate action the Government can take to regulate energy companies who are taking their customers for a ride, such as the thousands of my constituents who still do not have meters in their homes and who are being billed unlawfully for backdated energy and, in some cases, energy that they have not used? Will the Minister give the House further reassurance that there needs to be immediate action, as well as a long-term plan from the Government to see the transition to clean energy?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the cost of living crisis that blights constituencies across the country, with many people facing energy debt totalling £3.8 billion. She is also right, however, to point out that there are things that must be done to ensure that customers are served by the energy market. That is why we are ensuring that the regulator has the power—we are also instructing it to use the ones it has—to ensure that things such as back billing, which we know is an issue, do not happen. The rules are very clear and we need them to be enforced to ensure that when customers do not receive the best customer service from their suppliers, there are consequences. Our review of Ofgem is to ensure that it has the powers it needs to be that champion for consumers. In the end, the energy market must work in the interest of people. We agree that that is not happening at the moment and it must happen after we reform it.