Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 220887, what powers his Department plans to give Ofgem to ensure that gas suppliers cannot ask a vulnerable customer to pay a standing charge if they are not consuming gas at all.

Ofgem has been clear to suppliers that customers in vulnerable situations should not have to pay a standing charge if they are not consuming any gas. It is for Ofgem, as the independent regulator, to decide whether further action is necessary.