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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are being taken to protect poorer households from fuel poverty caused by the high prices of pre-payment energy meters.

Customers in fuel poverty use a range of methods to pay their energy bills. Latest BEIS Fuel Poverty data published on 29 June 2017 shows that in 2015, of the 2,885,000 households who paid for their gas supply by prepayment meter, 613,000 were fuel poor. Of the 3,550,000 million households who paid for their electricity supply by prepayment meter, 776,000 were fuel poor.

From 1 April this year, as a result of action by Competition Markets Authority, a cap on the amount energy suppliers can charge prepayment customers was introduced. The cap covers 4.5 million households saving many dual fuel customers £80 a year.

On 3 July Ofgem announced proposals to cap warrant charges to install prepayment meters and ban these charges altogether for the most vulnerable.