Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the increases in the cost of living on the number of households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that have fallen into arrears with their energy supplier.

Ofgem publishes statistics on energy debt and arrears which can be found at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/debt-and-arrears-indicators.

The Government introduced the ‘Breathing Space’ scheme which aims to address the ability of consumers to tackle debt and offers legal protections from creditors for 60 days. Under Ofgem rules, energy companies must set appropriate repayment plans based on a customer’s ability to pay for those at risk of, or in, debt.