MPs turn up the heat on energy prices

“Immediate action” must be taken to protect customers on standard tariffs

The government will come under pressure from a cross-party coalition of MPs to take tougher measures to curb energy price rises in a House of Commons debate this week.

Former shadow energy secretary of state Caroline Flint has banded together with Conservative and Scottish Nationalist Party MPs John Penrose and Patricia Gibson, to secure a parliamentary debate on the issue.

The three MPs persuaded the House of Commons backbench business committee to allocate one of the four debates, which it has the power call between now and the end of May, to discuss the trio’s early day motion early day motion on the energy market.

A total of 53 MPs signed an early day motion backed an early day motion requesting the debate, which will take place on Thursday. The debate’s three sponsors are meeting Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, today.

The early day motion calls on the Commons to deplore big six energy firms’ treatment of out-of-contract energy customers on “default tariffs”.

It says “immediate action” is needed to protect consumers on such standard variable tariffs and that “pushing customers to start switching will not fix the problem sufficiently quickly or completely on its own”.

It calls on “the industry, regulators and the Government to consider solutions which recognise that many people lead busy lives where switching their energy supplier may not always be a high priority.”

Flint, who was shadow energy and climate change secretary when ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband announced in 2013 his controversial plan to freeze energy bills for six months, said: “No amount of switching will protect this customer base.  The government have recognised that those on pre-payment meters should be protected.  If it is good enough for those people on pre-payment meters, what about the people stuck on standard variable tariffs?”

“We think this is an opportune time to have a debate in the chamber, because this is something affecting so many of our constituents.”