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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2017 to Question 206232 on Energy: Prices, what estimate he has made of the total cost incurred by (a) the public purse and (b) other energy suppliers as a result of the transfer of customers of domestic energy suppliers who cease trading through the Supplier of Last Resort process in each year since 2010.

A Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) appointed through a competitive process may make a claim to recover some of the costs they incur via an industry-wide levy. None of the levy costs are met by the public purse. The recovery of any tax arrears in an insolvency is a matter for the administrators and HMRC.

The Department is not able to make estimates of the expected costs as a result of the SoLR process. The costs of an insolvency will depend on the circumstances of each case and variables such as the number of customers, the short term costs of ensuring they continue to be supplied with energy, the settlement of customer bills and the costs absorbed by the incoming supplier. It is for Ofgem, as the expert regulator, to scrutinise the costs in any levy claim and to consult with industry and interested parties before any decision is taken to use the levy.