Supporting High Streets

Debate between Miatta Fahnbulleh and Luke Evans

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I will make progress.

Hon. Members have mentioned retail crime. We have scrapped effective immunity for low-value shoplifting, and we are taking action to protect retail workers from assault. Alongside the Employment Rights Bill, which we are proud of, that will make retail a more desirable career choice, improve retention and make recruitment clearer. We are very clear that employment rights are good for workers, but also for businesses and for the economy.

[Dr Luke Evans]

The amendment contains a bit of an oxymoron, because it says that the Government’s plan for small businesses

“commits to cut the administrative burden of regulation for businesses by 25%”,

but it then goes on to mention the Employment Rights Bill. Will the 25% cut in regulation take place before or after the Employment Rights Bill becomes law, and where will that cut come from? In all the measures that the Minister has talked about, we have not heard about that one.

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

It is incredibly telling that the hon. Member thinks that regulation consists of things such as protecting our workers, banning exploitative zero-hours contracts and ensuring that workers have sick pay. This is a fundamental part of the social contract. We are trying to ensure that when the economy does well, the everyday person does well, and that requires them to have basic rights and protections. We are very clear about and proud of that. Quite frankly, it is tragic that the Conservatives, who governed for 14 years in which workers were hugely exploited and the economy crashed, cannot see that.

Finally, before I make progress, I will reflect on energy bills. We understand that businesses are under pressure from energy bills. That is why we are driving forward our clean power mission, because we are clear that the shift to renewables will drive down bills. Alongside that, we are giving SMEs access to the Energy Ombudsman for the first time, strengthening their ability to renegotiate contracts through blend and extend, and helping businesses to reduce their use in order to reduce energy costs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Miatta Fahnbulleh and Luke Evans

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)]

5. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the transparency of domestic energy bill costings.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

Under Ofgem’s current rules, suppliers must provide complete and accurate billing information. Critically, bills are required to be displayed in plain and accessible language. We will work with the regulator to ensure that suppliers abide by that. However, it is worth saying that we recognise that many consumers feel let down by a broken energy system that is not working on their behalf. That is why we are reviewing the role of Ofgem, to ensure that it has the powers necessary to be an effective consumer champion.

[Dr Evans]

When it comes to bills, the public understand what unit costs are, but not what standing charges are. When I raised this with the previous Government and Ofcom, they said that it was a complex matter, but what I am asking for is transparency, so that people understand how the charge is made up, and can then make a judgment on what it looks like. Will the Government commit to asking Ofgem to ensure that that information is included in the billing, so that we can see the breakdown of costs—how much is going on human resources and how much is going on the actual infrastructure and wires—so we know exactly what is going on in the energy market?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

We support transparency. Ofgem publishes the breakdown of all costs within bills, but there is more that we need to do to ensure that consumers understand what is going on. Critically for us, we know that consumers are very frustrated about the standing charges, which is why we are committed to lowering them. As I have said, a consultation is under way around what we do with standing charges, which includes introducing a zero-standing-charge tariff. Within that, we will be considering options to increase transparency.