Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

I support the Acorn project; it is really important. For reasons that the hon. Member will understand, the right time to make decisions will be at the spending review in June.

[Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) (Lab)]

6. What discussions he has had with energy suppliers on support for consumers.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

We know that people are worried about their energy bills, and that too many are struggling to afford them. We agreed £500 million of industry support, alongside our warm home discount, to ensure that £1 billion of support was available for households struggling with their energy bills this winter. We will continue to take action to support consumers in the short term, as we sprint towards clean power in order to bear down on energy bills for good.

[Sarah Edwards]

In my constituency, a local hospitality business’s energy provider, E.ON, has behaved appallingly by back-billing and incorrectly billing, leaving that business nearly bankrupt. While I welcome the new expanded remit of the Energy Ombudsman, we need to ensure that it has the capacity and powers that it needs to protect businesses. Would the Minister meet me to discuss this case, and what are the Government doing to ensure that our local businesses are not driven to bankruptcy by the outrageous behaviour of energy suppliers?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this case. However, there are clear rules in place to protect consumers from unfair back-billing, and energy companies must comply with those rules. I have met Energy UK, the industry body, and Ofgem to reinforce our expectation that if rules are not complied with, Ofgem will take enforcement action. The broader point is that we have to ensure that the energy market is working for consumers and is fair. We are reviewing Ofgem to ensure that it has the mandate, the duties and the powers—including the Energy Ombudsman—that it needs to be an effective and strong consumer champion.