Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of families with children currently in debt to their energy companies.

The Department does not hold information on how many families are in debt with their energy companies.

Ofgem closely monitors domestic energy suppliers’ performance and publishes information in relation to debt owed by domestic electricity and gas accounts holders in Great Britain, but they do not publish data relating to families with children. At the end of 2013, latest data available, 1.5 million domestic electricity account holders and 1.4 million domestic gas account holders were in debt to their energy supplier:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/92186/annualreport2013finalforpublication.pdf.