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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that energy suppliers' environmental and social obligation costs are distributed effectively to help households on lower incomes.

Environmental and social obligations on energy suppliers fund vital support schemes and energy efficiency measures which benefit low income and vulnerable households.

Suppliers are free (but not obliged) to pass the cost of these obligations through to consumers. Preventing suppliers from passing on costs to certain groups of consumers could lead to suppliers being disincentivised from attracting these groups of consumers through beneficial services and increased costs to non-exempt groups.

In order to support low-income households struggling with energy bills there are a range of schemes offering support, for example the Warm Homes Discount and the recently expanded Energy Bills Support Scheme