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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that people on pre-payment meters are supported to maintain energy supply in the event of an increase in gas prices.

Protecting the most vulnerable during this period of high gas prices has been our top priority. The Pre-payment Meter Price Cap came into force on 1 April 2017 and currently protects 4 million pre-payment meter households on default tariffs.

In December 2020 Ofgem introduced new licensing conditions, including an Ability to Pay Principle, and an obligation on suppliers to proactively identify self-disconnecting and self-rationing pre-payment meter customers. These new rules require energy suppliers to offer emergency and friendly-hours credit to all pre-payment meter customers.