Speeches by Murphy.

“Is the number of customers that the suppliers are reporting on back billing proportionate to their customer base? Is it broadly distributed, rather than there being a particular repeat offender?”

“Do you publish the figures?”

“Is there a particular reason why they would not do that? Would that not be a useful thing to see?”

“In 2023, the energy suppliers paid around £78 million in redress payments and fines. Are you able to say how much of that was directly related to breaches of the rules on back billing?”

“I think the numbers you mentioned were almost self-reported. Do you think that suppliers are being proactive enough? It sounds like they are not identifying back-billing errors and offering consumers automatic compensation.”

“Where someone has been incorrectly back billed, is there a case for the supplier having to pay that back, plus 100%?”

“I guess my point was, if it was commensurate with the size of the back bill, that would create quite a powerful incentive not to do it. What actions have you taken in instances of threatening and bullying behaviour from energy suppliers when seeking payment for back bills? Have you seen instances of that?”

“Martin talked about the Financial Ombudsman—admittedly, this is his postbag—and the fact that he does not get complaints about providers in that market ignoring its rulings, but he regularly gets that with regard to the Energy Ombudsman. How can it be right when, according to Martin, it appears that suppliers are consi…”

“It does not sound like the Energy Ombudsman refers those kinds of cases to you on the regular.”

“Do you think there is a case for a statutory Energy Ombudsman?”

“The Minister arrived just as you said that.”

“Would the Government consider a complete ban on back billing beyond 12 months to make the rules as clear as possible? At the moment it does not seem right that a consumer has to have asked for an accurate bill in order to be exempt from back charges beyond 12 months.”

“Do you think there is a case for the period to be shortened to six months, as Citizens Advice has recommended?”

“This is a wider issue beyond back billing, but what about the case for a social tariff to protect the most vulnerable consumers?”

“I have spoken to a number of people in the industry, and they have said a number of things on this issue. One is that they really welcome the Government’s action on data matching; I think they have seen that as a really positive step by the Government. They have also said that they have gone through repeated winters un…”

“Now that the Conservative party opposes large-scale solar, net zero and onshore wind, I am tempted to ask the Minister what he makes of that party’s new energy policy, which is to take us back to the past, rub two sticks together and hope for the best. Instead, will he update the House on the progress of Great British …”

“It was not just any website; it was the right hon. Member’s website, and it was a direct quote. My point—it was not necessarily to do with the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tristan Osborne)—was that when the right hon. Gentleman was Minister of State for Schools, he described the mo…”

“On a point of fact—[Interruption.] I am reading from a mobile phone but, talking about quoting, they are important for research. On 19 February 2024, when the right hon. Gentleman was the Minister of State for Schools, a press release issued his Department said: “Mobile phones are set to be prohibited in schools across…”

“Which you described as a ban.”

“Thanks very much. Just to be clear, you think pricing is the—”