Speeches by Fahnbulleh.

“We know that consumers are frustrated by standing charges, which is why we are committed to lowering them. Ofgem has been consulting on introducing a zero standing charge tariff that would shift the costs on to unit rates. The consultation has now closed, and we will be working with Ofgem to take this forward.”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. Local authorities will have a critical role to play in our warm homes plan. Under our warm homes schemes, we are offering substantial support to enable low-income households to transition to clean heat. For example, our warm homes social housing fund allows grant recipients to r…”

“At the 2024 autumn Budget, £1.8 billion was allocated to local authorities and social housing providers, supporting them to deliver warmer and more energy-efficient homes across the country, targeting low-income households in particular. This goes alongside our plans to raise standards in rented properties to ensure th…”

“I am absolutely disappointed by the Conservatives. I should expect more, but maybe I need to get used to being disappointed. We saw the press release a week ago, and it has had no publicity because it is a Conservative party scare story. It is absolute nonsense. The Government are serious about bearing down on the cost…”

“We are aware of issues that we have had with ECO4 and the Great British insulation scheme. If constituents have been affected, they should have received a letter from Ofgem. They should be able to contact their installer, who is obliged to fix the work, and there is a clear redress mechanism. There is a wider point: we…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for raising this important debate on the radio teleswitch service. I also thank him for meeting me on Thursday to discuss the concerns of his constituents, and for all the work that he and other Members are putting in to ensure that the switchover is…”

“We are trying to work within the Windsor framework. We are not here to litigate that. It sets out a set of protocols and procedures that we are working under. EU rules have come forward, and it is right that we make sure that we create the legal framework so that these measures apply in Northern Ireland. Critically, ir…”

“Let me say to the hon. Member that we have absolutely looked at the regulations. As the UK Government, we believe that they are good for consumers. In fact, the ambition that has been set by the regulations is one that we wish to mirror ourselves. We will consult on these standards, not because the EU is telling us to …”

“I thank hon. Members for their valuable contributions to the debate. I start by saying that we have our obligations under the Windsor framework, which was passed in this House with an overwhelming majority. We are not here to litigate the rights and wrongs of that process; that has already been done. We are here to dis…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025. This instrument forms an important part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring energy-related products are sustainable and efficient, by enabling n…”

“I think there were five questions in that, so I will take each in turn. Is the inheritance really tough? Absolutely. Is the confidence in the system not where it needs to be? Absolutely. That is the backdrop, and the job is to try to turn that around. I am confident that we can turn it around. Let me take each of the p…”

“On the example that you gave, we are trying to build a picture, so if there are examples where the system is failing, please do feed those into—”

“I know I don’t need to ask.”

“On the example that you gave, we are trying to build a picture, so if there are examples where the system is failing, please do feed those into—”

“I know I don’t need to ask.”

“Let me put this on the record: if we get to the scale of coverage of smart meters that we want, it will do a massive job in terms of dealing with some of these problems and help us to deliver better customer service, and more tailored and targeted services to customers. We are very clear that we need to drive up the ro…”

“To be fair, on energy bills, there has been lots of work to try to make them simpler, but for your average consumer, they are still very complicated, not least because of the way that we structure tariffs. We are thinking about ways in which we can make energy bills more accessible and simpler for consumers, and more t…”

“The rules are very clear. It is clear that, with the exception of particular circumstances, suppliers cannot bill customers for energy that was consumed more than 12 months previously, but there are clearly instances where that rule is not playing out in the way that is set out on paper. There are some grey areas where…”

“There are two things I would say. Ofgem’s expectation on this is very clear, and the direction that has been given from the Government is also very clear. On the evidence that we have to date, in the year to September ’24, just over 3,000 cases relating to back billing went through the Energy Ombudsman. It is of that m…”

“Absolutely. I think a lot of people will find their energy bills—”