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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister on 23 January 2023, what steps he is taking to ensure that the process by which energy suppliers bring warrant cases to court for prepayment meter installation is fair, transparent and supports vulnerable customers.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked Ofgem to do more to ensure suppliers protect vulnerable consumers. This includes revisiting their approach to compliance enforcement, as well as the urgent publication of recent investigations into outcomes for vulnerable customers.

Ofgem will be carrying out a review with a focus on forced installations, and the checks and balances suppliers have around any decision to put a customer on a prepayment meter. Furthermore, Ofgem will continue to look at the rules around mandatory moves to prepayment meters, when a court warrant can be applied for, and the steps that need to be taken first.