Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposed energy bills rebate on households with prepayment energy meters.

Domestic energy customers will receive the discount regardless of their type of payment method. There are a number of different options for those on pre-payment meters to receive the £200 reduction on their energy bills this autumn.

37 per cent of pre-payment customers have remotely accessible smart meters and therefore will be able to receive the smoothing reduction automatically. For the 63 per cent who do not have remotely accessible smart meters (2.6 million households, or less than 10 per cent of overall households), they can receive their reduction via either a voucher issued via email/post, a Special Action Message (SAM) to outlets where a customer normally tops up, or via a cheque in the post. The Coalition Government took the same approach with their Electricity Rebate Scheme in 2013.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will work closely with industry and consumer groups on how best to deliver this policy, including through a public consultation in the Spring.