Speeches by Billington.

“Why is Ofgem proposing a one-off rather than a permanent energy debt relief scheme? Will support be made automatically or will it rely on consumers applying?”

“Is Ofgem planning to level out costs across all payment methods?”

“Given that standard credit customers are considered more likely to go into debt and struggle to afford their energy bills, why are they made to pay more under the energy price cap compared with people on other payment methods?”

“They do get triaged by bots though, don’t they?”

“How many of the complaints or concerns are managed by chatbots versus human beings?”

“To follow up on that, do you still have human beings in your call centres or is this all being done by chatbots?”

“Thank you. Is it cheaper for energy suppliers to pay the compensation required by the Energy Ombudsman than to invest in proper customer service?”

“I am suggesting that it is not actually that difficult.”

“Sorry, Dr Roy, but I have worked in call centres and followed scripts, and like most consumers, I have also been at the other end of those phone calls when you come to impasse. It seems to me that, at that point, it should be quite easy to say in the script, “Thank you very much, Ms Billington. I’m sorry we can’t resol…”

“It is quite a lot of error though, isn’t it?”

“You will be collecting data, won’t you? It will be interesting to see what Citizens Advice data starts to show. Dr Roy, in the last quarter of 2024 just over a quarter of the cases that Centrica was unable to resolve were correctly signposted to the Energy Ombudsman. Why do you think this is and what challenges do supp…”

“I take your point. Alex, thank you also for what Citizens Advice do. I need to declare an interest in that I worked for Citizens Advice for some time and know the value of what you do as well as valuing the bureau in my constituency. You have the statutory advocacy role for microbusinesses, which is particularly import…”

“On Dr Roy’s point about the Financial Ombudsman Service being on a statutory footing, and yet you do not always get a result, what does that say to you about the value of a statutory footing?”

“Katie, do you believe the remedial actions and financial awards available to the Energy Ombudsman are enough to drive up standards and give consumers the compensation they deserve?”

“To follow up on that, do you still have human beings in your call centres or is this all being done by chatbots?”

“How many of the complaints or concerns are managed by chatbots versus human beings?”

“They do get triaged by bots though, don’t they?”

“Given that standard credit customers are considered more likely to go into debt and struggle to afford their energy bills, why are they made to pay more under the energy price cap compared with people on other payment methods?”

“Is Ofgem planning to level out costs across all payment methods?”

“Why is Ofgem proposing a one-off rather than a permanent energy debt relief scheme? Will support be made automatically or will it rely on consumers applying?”