Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to encourage energy providers to reduce direct debit payments from customers with accounts in credit.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to energy companies on 26 November asking them to make their systems more responsive so that direct debits better reflect the amount of energy used. It is also an area of focus for Ofgem’s Market Compliance Reviews where Ofgem have taken steps to ensure credit balances are kept at an appropriate level and that direct debits are not set too high. The latest review can be found here https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-launches-new-proposals-strengthen-energy-market-and-protect-consumers.