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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consumers and businesses have access to redress and other consumer protections in emerging low-carbon markets.

As a Competent Authority, the energy regulator Ofgem, has an obligation to ensure Alternative Dispute Resolution is provided in the energy sector under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015.

Ofgem has appointed Ombudsman Services: Energy as the redress provider in the energy sector and has set out the types of dispute that Ombudsman Services: Energy can resolve, including issues relating to billing, sales, switching, supply, micro-generation and Feed in Tariffs.

Consumer protection continues to be a central part of policy considerations in relation to new energy markets, for example we have recently consulted on extending access to redress to heat network customers.