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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the taxpayer of the collapse of Bulb Energy Ltd.

The Government has made a £1.7 billion loan facility available to the energy administrators for Bulb Energy, to provide working capital for a six-month period. The value of this facility is a contingency - it gives confidence to the energy administrators to carry out their duties effectively – protecting Bulb customers and keeping costs to a minimum for consumers.

The Government will recoup costs through the administrators realising the value of Bulb's assets, or through the established shortfall recovery mechanism which will see a levy charged on industry.