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Fuel Poverty

Indeed, and I put on record my recognition that some companies have done that, which shows that others could and should do the same. I turn to a third matter: the social tariffs that my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) mentioned. An important feature of the energy market for domestic consumers is that a range of social tariffs is available to vulnerable customers, offering different benefits to various groups of consumers who might have difficulty in paying their energy bills. Such tariffs could play an important role in ensuring that there is a much more focused attack on fuel poverty, but I suggest that social tariffs are currently of only limited benefit and that much more use could be made of them. The Government have previously indicated—in the energy White Paper, I believe—that they were considering taking powers in the forthcoming energy Bill to introduce mandatory minimum standards for social tariffs. I ask them to follow up that commitment by including such a measure in the Bill. They instructed Ofgem to examine suppliers' packages of support for low-income consumers and report back. Ofgem's report stated that the suppliers were making efforts to provide support to their fuel-poor customers, but it did not rank those measures or consider their effectiveness. That missed the point. There is no framework of standards for what constitutes a social tariff, which has resulted in a confusing situation for customers and those who advise people in vulnerable positions. That has allowed suppliers to attach the term ““social tariff”” to any product from rebates to existing tariffs, and in some cases the social tariff is more expensive than the normal tariff, which clearly should not be the case.