Annual Energy Statement

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

My hon. Friend invites me to trespass on to the responsibilities of another Secretary of State. I think that would be ill-advised, particularly as the Secretary of State for Transport has just taken his place on the Front Bench. My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) may wish to ask him that question, but he is right to say that the Government have an excellent record on this.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

For 13 years, the Labour Government did little to deal with standing charges. Will my right hon. Friend tell me what impact standing charges have on pensioner fuel poverty, and will he ensure that they are included in the review?

[Mr Davey]

Ofgem’s retail market review looked at different approaches to standing charges, and there is a debate on them. However, there is a danger that taking them away will lead to a single unit price model—which some people think is better—that will hit low-income households that are high energy users. We therefore need to consider the full distributional consequences. We will keep these matters under review, as we should.