Ofgem, the energy regulator, has developed a Code of Practice to strengthen protections and support for consumers who may be moved onto a prepayment meter involuntarily. This has been agreed with energy suppliers who will be required to demonstrate readiness to implement the Code of Practice.

Ofgem intends for these new protections to be in licence conditions ahead of this winter. Customers remain protected by the current pause on involuntary installations of prepayment meters in the meantime.

On 25 August, Ofgem announced that from 1 October the prepayment meter (PPM) level of the price cap will decrease by £128 from £2,077 to £1,949 for average dual fuel consumption.

In addition, the Energy Price Guarantee currently aligns costs for comparable PPM and direct debit customers, ensuring that those on PPMs are not paying a premium for their costs.

Ofgem has launched a consultation on levelling the cost of standing charges on prepayment meters which closes on 22 September.

Ofgem rules require energy suppliers to provide extra support where appropriate, including an obligation to make emergency and friendly-hours credit available to all pre-payment meter customers. When assessing how a customer will repay any credit offered, suppliers must also consider their ability to pay.

The Government introduced the ‘Breathing Space’ scheme, which aims to address consumers’ ability to tackle debt and offers legal protections from creditors for 60 days. A standard breathing space is available for anyone with problem debt, administered by debt advice providers and local authorities who provide debt advice to residents.

Customers may also be eligible for cost-of-living payments from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ofgem works to protect energy consumers. To ensure that their work is informed by the needs of Britain’s energy consumers, they regularly monitor levels of debt and arrears of UK domestic consumers. This is available at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/debt-and-arrears-indicators

Safe Hands Funeral Plans has recently gone into administration. I am aware that the current situation will be distressing for customers of Safe Hands and can assure you that the Treasury continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely.

I welcome the commitment from Dignity to provide funerals to Safe Hands’ customers for two weeks.

It is a regrettable fact that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation – whatever form that may take – creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for authorisation.

Where a provider is unable to obtain FCA authorisation because of underlying issues, it is important to understand that this is not an issue created by bringing the sector into regulation. Rather, bringing the sector into regulation exposes these unsustainable business models and prevents these problems from getting worse and impacting more consumers.

The FCA’s guidance is clear that providers who are not seeking or not able to obtain authorisation should either transfer their existing plans to a provider which is seeking authorisation, or wind down in an orderly way before regulation starts.

Safe Hands Funeral Plans has recently gone into administration. I am aware that the current situation will be distressing for customers of Safe Hands and can assure you that the Treasury continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely.

I welcome the commitment from Dignity to provide funerals to Safe Hands’ customers for two weeks.

It is a regrettable fact that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation – whatever form that may take – creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for authorisation.

Where a provider is unable to obtain FCA authorisation because of underlying issues, it is important to understand that this is not an issue created by bringing the sector into regulation. Rather, bringing the sector into regulation exposes these unsustainable business models and prevents these problems from getting worse and impacting more consumers.

The FCA’s guidance is clear that providers who are not seeking or not able to obtain authorisation should either transfer their existing plans to a provider which is seeking authorisation, or wind down in an orderly way before regulation starts.