Clark to be quizzed over price cap

Business secretary to appear before Commons committee next week

Greg Clark has been summoned to the House of Commons as the BEIS (business, energy and industrial strategy) select committee commences its scrutiny of the government’s energy price cap bill.  

The committee will be grilling the business secretary as part of its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, which was published in draft form on 12 October.

The select committee scrutinises legislation when it is presented to Parliament in draft form, like ministers have done with the price cap bill, which is designed to keep a lid on standard variable and other default tariffs.

Margot James, minister for consumer affairs and Jeremy Pocklington, director general, energy & security at BEIS, will be quizzed alongside Clark.

The hearing is due to take place next Wednesday.

To inform its inquiry, the committee has also announced a call for evidence, which will be followed by hearings, likely to take place in December and January.

The committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny will cover the objectives, provisions, and likely impact of the legislation.

Rachel Reeves, chair of the BEIS committee, said: “The energy market isn’t working. Millions of customers are stuck paying far too much for their gas and electricity and face exorbitant bills dropping through their letterboxes this winter.

“As a committee we want to take a close eye to the government’s proposals and make recommendations to ensure that the reality of a price cap can match the rhetoric by delivering lower bills for consumers and fixing the broken energy market.”