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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported conclusion by the Advertising Standards Authority that energy companies will pass on the costs of smart meters to customers through higher bills.

Consumers pay for their smart metering service as part of their energy bill, as they do for their traditional metering service.

Smart meters will deliver reductions to consumers’ energy bills. It is estimated that smart meters will take £300m off consumers’ bills in 2020, rising to more than £1.2bn per year by 2030 – an average annual saving of £47 per household.