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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the number of installed smart meters that are not on the national database, (b) the number of individuals being charged for electricity supplies on the basis of smart meters that are not on the national database, (c) the extent of improper billing by electricity suppliers on the basis of smart meters that are not on the national database and (d) what steps he is taking to ensure that all installed smart meters are recorded on the national database.

There is no national database for smart electricity or gas meter billing information. Billing is the responsibility of individual energy suppliers. Energy consumption is recorded and securely held by the meter whether smart or traditional. Energy suppliers access this data remotely or via manual meters reads for billing purposes.