Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish the training materials for case handlers of the Energy Ombudsman.

Ofgem is required to review the Energy Ombudsman every two years. As part of these reviews, the Energy Ombudsman provided training materials to Ofgem, who judged that staff at the Ombudsman were sufficiently well-trained. The decision about whether to publish training materials is a decision for the Energy Ombudsman, who are independent of Government.

We want it to be quicker and easier for consumers to access the Energy Ombudsman service and for any customer who has received a poor-quality service from their supplier to receive the compensation and resolution they deserve.

That is why the Government has announced proposals to strengthen the Energy Ombudsman to ensure that suppliers comply with its final decisions or pay compensation to their consumer. We will also consult on introducing automatic referrals to the Ombudsman, explore the reduction of referral waiting times from 8 weeks to 4 weeks and make the overall complaints process more transparent and accessible.