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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) utility companies and (b) banks on removing charges for pensioners who are not comfortable with online billing and do not choose paperless billing options.

I regularly engage with utility providers to address a wide range of issues. Through these conversations I always stress the importance of utility companies and banks serving the needs of all their customers, in particular the elderly and vulnerable, and look forward to raising this specific issue as part of my next engagement.