Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the findings of the report by the Competition and Markets Authority on its provisional finding on its energy market investigation, published on 7 July 2015; and what steps she is taking to ensure that customers are not paying too much for their energy bills.

We will consider the CMA’s provisional findings carefully and respond shortly.

In the meantime this Government continues to focus on keeping bills down through promoting competition, making switching quicker and easier, and providing direct help to the most vulnerable.

We have already:

· tackled barriers hindering the entry and growth of independent suppliers through the Challenger Business Programme

· halved the time it takes to switch supplier;

· put QR codes on bills to allow switching through mobile phones

· delivered a national switching campaign, resulting in £38 million savings by 130,000 households switching energy supplier; and

· provided nearly £3m over three years to the Big Energy Saving Network which has already helped around 220,000 vulnerable consumers with their energy bills.