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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on (a) measuring and (b) tackling the poverty premium.

The Department engages regularly with the Competition and Markets Authority and other regulators on poor business practices such as the loyalty penalty which result in vulnerable and low income consumers paying more. A summary of some of the Competition and Markets Authority’s work is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consumer-vulnerability-challenges-and-potential-solutions.

I also chair the Consumer Forum which convenes economic regulators and government departments. The Consumer Forum aims to coordinate the support for vulnerable consumers in the economically regulated sectors, including support for consumers struggling to pay their essential service bills.