Prepayment Meters

Philip Hollobone Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

We have today already seen a response from suppliers to the Government’s calls. We must look to be as effective as possible in effecting change now, and we believe that the Government’s calls on and engagement with suppliers, alongside that of Ofgem, is the right approach. Suppliers must exhaust—as they are required to do—all other alternatives before forcing the installation of a prepayment meter.

We, too, were once in opposition, so I understand the desire to come up with superficially popular policies, but we do not want to create a system where, in fact, more people are forced into debt, end up with bailiffs and are drawn into the court system. That is exactly what we wish to avoid. For many consumers, prepayment meters are a useful tool to allow them to manage their credit and ensure they do not get drawn into the court system in that way. [Interruption.]

If the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) were to stop chuntering even for a moment, she would hear my response to the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), who asked me about the penalty, as he put it, of higher costs. The standing charge is a fixed charge that covers the cost of live supply, and it is controlled by Ofgem. The system, which I think was in place when the right hon. Gentleman was a Minister, is that the cost should reflect the actual cost of providing the service. Ofgem manages that, but I agree with him that this is something we should look at. That is why we are going to look at social tariffs and why we want to look at whether those costs should be socialised. This is a long-standing situation that we are seeking to address. The whole energy supply system is under stress right now because of the energy crisis, and it is right that we make moves sensibly, without perverse outcomes, to ensure that we protect the most vulnerable.

On the question of not forcibly cutting people off, I am always open to looking at these issues, but of course a lot of people will manage the way they use heat and electricity, and it is somewhat different from water. We want to ensure that we get the balance right by protecting the most vulnerable and making sure that we have a system that builds on the unprecedented protection for consumers that we brought in this winter.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Energy consumers on prepayment meters are among the most vulnerable energy consumers. In the face of the biggest ever hike in domestic energy prices, getting financial support to those people is more important than ever. While it is good news that 99% of energy bill support payment vouchers have been issued, it is alarming that only 71% have been redeemed. ScottishPower has redeemed only 64%. Other companies such as Bulb have redeemed 79%. Will the Minister put a rocket under companies such as ScottishPower to ensure that this money gets into the hands of vulnerable consumers as quickly as possible?

[Graham Stuart]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is one of the reasons we have published the list today. Transparency is the best form of disinfectant. We expect the suppliers’ chief executive officers to have conversations with their teams and to ask, “Why are we at the bottom of this list?”. We want competition between suppliers, but all of us have a role to play. It is up to the whole of society to ensure that people are aware of the vouchers. People in the greatest difficulty might be the least likely to open the envelope, for example, so we have looked at the design of the envelopes and at every front. We want to get the message out there to people on prepayment meters that the vouchers are there and that they are entitled to support. Like my hon. Friend, I would like to see the take-up increase.