Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on its studies of the steps taken by the utilities airlines and other industries in response to falling oil and gas prices; and whether the conclusions of those studies will be published.

The Treasury has engaged with industry to stress the importance of passing through wholesale cost reductions to consumers. The Treasury has produced internal studies to examine how far and how quickly the benefits of oil and price falls were fed through to consumers. We are pleased that recently the six major energy suppliers have announced cuts in their tariffs - it's a good start but there's more to do. The Government looks forward to the Provisional decision on remedies of the Competition and Markets Authority, due this month, and continues to monitor developments closely.