The Government has recently consulted on a proposed minimum unit price and published a consultation stage impact assessment alongside this.

A response will be published in due course.

The Government has recently consulted on a proposed minimum unit price and published a consultation stage impact assessment alongside this.

A response will be published in due course.

The Government has recently consulted on a proposed minimum unit price and published a consultation stage impact assessment alongside this.

A response will be published in due course.

The Government has recently consulted on a proposed minimum unit price and published a consultation stage impact assessment alongside this.

A response will be published in due course.

The impact of the Carbon Price Floor (CPF) is included in DECC's analysis on the Estimated Impacts of Energy and Climate Change Policies on Energy Prices and Bills and set out in Annexes D to F of the report. For example, in 2013 the CPF is estimated to add around £1 per megawatt hour to electricity prices (in real 2012 prices).

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts, and published a new forecast for the UK alongside the Budget in its March 2013 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’. The OBR forecast includes an assumption for rises in domestic energy prices of 7% in 2013 and 3% in 2014. This assumption informs an assessment of the effect of these rises in domestic energy prices on inflation and consumer spending.

At Budget 2013, the Government announced the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee, which will be available from January 2014. The scheme is a temporary intervention, designed to address the sharp decline in the availability of high loan-to-value lending in the wake of the financial crisis. The Government published a scheme outline alongside the Budget and will be working with industry in the coming months to determine the details of the scheme.

It is for the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce the official economic and fiscal forecasts. These are based on all government policies and take into account the impact of new policies on the economic forecast. The OBR's “Economic and Fiscal Outlook¹” sets out the key assumptions, conventions and projections underpinning the forecast, including the forecast for house prices. Page 43 of the document states:

“The Government have announced various measures aimed at improving the supply of UK housing and supporting property transactions. These include an extension and expansion of the Government's Help to Buy scheme, the Right to Buy scheme and the Build to Rent Fund, and the introduction of a Mortgage Equity Guarantee aimed at high loan-to-value mortgages. The expansion of the existing schemes is likely to have a relatively small additional impact on transactions and residential investment. The details and timing of the guarantee scheme have yet to be finalised and it is therefore too early to quantify the likely impact. Overall, however, these measures, alongside the Funding for Lending Scheme, should support the significant growth in property transactions and residential investment that we forecast over the next two years”.¹ http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/March-2013-EFO-44734674673453.pdf

Q9

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[150821]

Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab):

On the subject of jobs, last week 21 Tory MEPs voted against the EU emissions trading scheme, meaning that British industry will face much higher energy prices than its European competitors, threatening jobs and investment. When will the Prime Minister get a grip of his party and stand up for British business?

I thought the hon. Gentleman might start by thanking the Chancellor for the move taken in the Budget to help very important businesses in his constituency with excessive energy costs, but clearly the milk of human kindness is running a bit thinly with him. I have to say, if we are going to get into lectures about MEPs, perhaps he could get his to stop voting against the British rebate.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. In September 2010, the OBR published a working paper, ‘Assessment of the Effect of Oil Price Fluctuations on the Public Finances’. This analysis by the OBR suggests that a 20% increase in the price of oil reduces actual output by approximately 0.2% compared to a baseline scenario. In their March 2012 Economic and fiscal outlook, the OBR estimated that an immediate $50 shock to the oil price would lead to GDP growth in 2012-13 falling from their central forecast of 1.0% to 0.3%.

The independent regulator Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply in the business sector. As part of its retail market review Ofgem is proposing to extend consumer protection to around 160,000 more micro businesses (which typically spend up to £10,000 on gas or electricity per year) by extending existing protection on contract information and introducing enforceable standards of conduct covering billing, contracts and switching supplier.

On back-billing, Ofgem has been working with industry and consumer groups to introduce a new set of voluntary standards for the treatment of micro-businesses, which includes a time limit for back-billing of three years for electricity and four-five years for gas. Some suppliers have made further commitments on these time limits. Ofgem will continue to monitor this area.

The coalition Government recognises the damaging impact of high food prices on consumers in developing countries. Based on our continued assessment of the evidence, we believe that changes in supply and demand, rather than speculation, are the main factors behind the recent spikes in global food prices.

The Government is well aware of the pressures faced by consumers in this challenging economic climate. However, generally pricing policy is a commercial matter for the companies concerned.

The best way of ensuring consumers get a good deal is by encouraging effective competition between firms. Where firms are behaving anti-competitively and this is leading to bad outcomes for consumers, the Office of Fair Trading has strong powers to intervene.

Retail is a fiercely competitive sector, and pricing of consumer goods is one of the areas in which competition is at its most powerful.

Consumers who understand their rights can play a strong part in driving market competition because they force businesses to innovate and pursue efficiency. The Government published a number of consultations last year that together proposed a fundamental reform of consumer legislation. The proposals clarify the law where it is confusing for consumers or where it has not kept pace with technological developments and contain important new protections for consumers alongside measures to lower regulatory burdens for business, all with the aim of making markets work better.

In addition, the Government recently introduced legislation which will ban excessive payment surcharges being charged to consumers. The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 prohibit traders from charging consumers more than the cost borne by the trader for the use of a given means of payment such as a credit card.

The Government has also better equipped Trading Standards to take greater responsibility for consumer law enforcement by transferring central Government funding for national leadership and coordination of enforcement activity from the OFT to the National Trading Standards Board. Trading Standards are taking on responsibly for consumer code schemes and most business-facing education. Together, these measures will support business to better respond to customers, and promote those who serve customers well, while strengthening protection against poor practice.

The Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP), formerly the Strategic Intelligence, Prevention and Enforcement Partnership, work together to share intelligence, and identify current and future issues that could adversely affect consumers. The CPP is developing an agreed mechanism for gathering, analysing and utilising relevant intelligence and information in order to highlight potential areas of consumer detriment for study and action.

The Government is well aware of the pressures faced by consumers in this challenging economic climate. However, generally pricing policy is a commercial matter for the companies concerned.

The best way of ensuring consumers get a good deal is by encouraging effective competition between firms. Where firms are behaving anti-competitively and this is leading to bad outcomes for consumers, the Office of Fair Trading has strong powers to intervene.

Retail is a fiercely competitive sector, and pricing of consumer goods is one of the areas in which competition is at its most powerful.

Consumers who understand their rights can play a strong part in driving market competition because they force businesses to innovate and pursue efficiency. The Government published a number of consultations last year that together proposed a fundamental reform of consumer legislation. The proposals clarify the law where it is confusing for consumers or where it has not kept pace with technological developments and contain important new protections for consumers alongside measures to lower regulatory burdens for business, all with the aim of making markets work better.

In addition, the Government recently introduced legislation which will ban excessive payment surcharges being charged to consumers. The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 prohibit traders from charging consumers more than the cost borne by the trader for the use of a given means of payment such as a credit card.

The Government has also better equipped Trading Standards to take greater responsibility for consumer law enforcement by transferring central Government funding for national leadership and coordination of enforcement activity from the OFT to the National Trading Standards Board. Trading Standards are taking on responsibly for consumer code schemes and most business-facing education. Together, these measures will support business to better respond to customers, and promote those who serve customers well, while strengthening protection against poor practice.

The Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP), formerly the Strategic Intelligence, Prevention and Enforcement Partnership, work together to share intelligence, and identify current and future issues that could adversely affect consumers. The CPP is developing an agreed mechanism for gathering, analysing and utilising relevant intelligence and information in order to highlight potential areas of consumer detriment for study and action.

The Government is well aware of the pressures faced by consumers in this challenging economic climate. However, generally pricing policy is a commercial matter for the companies concerned.

The best way of ensuring consumers get a good deal is by encouraging effective competition between firms. Where firms are behaving anti-competitively and this is leading to bad outcomes for consumers, the Office of Fair Trading has strong powers to intervene.

Retail is a fiercely competitive sector, and pricing of consumer goods is one of the areas in which competition is at its most powerful.

Consumers who understand their rights can play a strong part in driving market competition because they force businesses to innovate and pursue efficiency. The Government published a number of consultations last year that together proposed a fundamental reform of consumer legislation. The proposals clarify the law where it is confusing for consumers or where it has not kept pace with technological developments and contain important new protections for consumers alongside measures to lower regulatory burdens for business, all with the aim of making markets work better.

In addition, the Government recently introduced legislation which will ban excessive payment surcharges being charged to consumers. The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 prohibit traders from charging consumers more than the cost borne by the trader for the use of a given means of payment such as a credit card.

The Government has also better equipped Trading Standards to take greater responsibility for consumer law enforcement by transferring central Government funding for national leadership and coordination of enforcement activity from the OFT to the National Trading Standards Board. Trading Standards are taking on responsibly for consumer code schemes and most business-facing education. Together, these measures will support business to better respond to customers, and promote those who serve customers well, while strengthening protection against poor practice.

The Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP), formerly the Strategic Intelligence, Prevention and Enforcement Partnership, work together to share intelligence, and identify current and future issues that could adversely affect consumers. The CPP is developing an agreed mechanism for gathering, analysing and utilising relevant intelligence and information in order to highlight potential areas of consumer detriment for study and action.