Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Helen Morgan and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

We heard in the responses to our 2024 consultation the concerns about the continued risk to consumers arising from some of these TPIs. The Government plan to bring in new regulation of TPIs and will appoint Ofgem as the regulator, which will be empowered to put in place rules to protect small and medium-sized enterprises and other TPI customers.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

T6. In North Shropshire, around 15,000 households, including my own, are reliant on fuels like heating oil or LPG to heat them. These people are also hit hardest by rises at the petrol pumps because they do not have alternative forms of transport. While everybody who is connected to mains electricity and gas benefits from the price cap, those of us who are off-grid have only been offered means-tested support. Will the Government consider introducing a price cap on alternative fuels to ensure that rural and off-grid homes get the support they deserve?

[Martin McCluskey]

The support on offer is not means-tested; it is at the discretion of local authorities to decide the criteria for those applications. That is the first point. The second point is that the CMA is investigating this in detail. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier, if there are any examples, please bring them to my attention and to the CMA’s attention, so that they can be considered as part of that review.