Miatta Fahnbulleh MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jul 2025 · ECO4 Scheme Redress · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) for securing this important debate and shining a light on the problem, which I agree is systemic, and also for sharing the case of her constituent, Jackie, which is both worrying and heartbreaking. I want to reaffirm the Government’s unwavering commitment to driving up standards—we know we must do this—and to strengthening consumer protection and rebuilding public trust in home upgrades. On 23 January I informed the House of the discovery of widespread non-compliance in the insulation of solid wall insulation under the ECO4 and Great British insulation scheme. I am clear that blameless families have fallen victim to work that is not up to standard and which, if untreated, could lead to chronic issues of damp and mould spoiling their homes. This, for me, was a wake-up call and clearly shows that the system needs reform. Since then, we have taken clear and co-ordinated action to address the issues and protect affected households. I will set out the steps we have taken. As I set out in my statement to the House in January, as soon as my Department was made aware of the issues we worked at pace to establish an expanded programme of checks, which we have asked Ofgem to oversee. I am pleased to report that those checks have progressed quickly; where issues have been identified they are already being resolved. I encourage all households who are contacted to have an audit on their property to take up those checks, even if they do not think there is a problem. We are building up a comprehensive picture of the scale and size of the problem and I will update the House in due course. Our immediate priority was to protect consumers. Alongside the ongoing checks, we are implementing a comprehensive plan to remedy poor quality installations in accordance with the required standards. Where substandard work is identified, we have been clear that it is the installer’s responsibility to put it right at no cost to the household. Some 90% of the installations identified as not being up to standard have already been remediated, I am glad to say. We will continue to apply pressure on installers to take responsibility to fix the issues and not put the burden on individual consumers. If Jackie is struggling to get the system to respond in the way that it should, I will be happy for her to meet me and for us to take up that specific case. Beyond energy efficiency measures, we are also verifying the quality of installations of two microgeneration technologies—heat pumps and solar panels—that were installed under ECO4. Installers use the publicly available specification standard for energy efficiency, and a standard set by the microgeneration certification scheme for heat pumps and solar. The MCS has been carrying out additional site audits of the microgeneration installations. So far, we have not seen concerning evidence of consumer detriment, but we are completing further checks before we can be assured that there are no systemic problems in the installation of microgeneration technologies. If substandard work is found, the MCS makes installers put it right. It is very important that the people who get this wrong are not allowed to walk away. They must be the ones to remediate the problems. We were clear that we need further oversight of the system while we bring in bigger reforms, which I will come on to. The National Audit Office is undertaking an investigation into the issues with ECO4 scheme. We welcome that investigation and the insights it will bring. We have also taken steps to strengthen oversight of the wider consumer protection system, so that in the short term, while we bring in wider reforms, we stop problems happening. That includes the UK Accreditation Service increasing rates of inspection of certification bodies, and agreement with TrustMark that a senior Department for Energy Security and Net Zero official will attend its board in an advisory capacity, so that we keep a firm grip on issues as they arise. Certification bodies have agreed that installers will only be PAS 2030 certified for each measure by one certification body. The latest iteration of PAS 2035/2030 standards, which came into force on 30 March, introduced strengthened requirements to ensure high-quality installations. Energy suppliers have also strengthened their oversight of solid-wall insulation measures, so that there are additional audits and oversight of any measures brought forward. Those are all important, necessary short-term steps, but it is clear to me that there is a systemic problem. We recognise that and are very clear that we need to put it right. We inherited a situation of many organisations with different roles and responsibilities involved in ensuring the quality of retrofit activity, resulting in a fragmented and confusing system of consumer protections. To address that and to create a clear, more comprehensive set of standards for consumers, we are moving forward with reforms, which we will announce in our warm homes plan to be published in October. That plan will look at the entire of spectrum, including the training and the capacity building of installers, who are key. It will look at how installers who work in people’s homes are certified and monitored, and the quality assurance regime that we put in place. One insight we found was that capital schemes that tend to be overseen by local authorities and devolved Administrations have far fewer issues because of the level of quality assurance. The plan will also inform people where to turn for redress when things go wrong, making that as simple as possible. The situation where consumers have to jump through multiple hoops just to get things sorted cannot be allowed to continue. Guarantees must be in place to ensure that, when things do go wrong, consumers do not foot the bill, and work is remediated by the system.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Business Energy Supply Billing: Regulation · Hansard source

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  That was my concluding point, to hon. Members from Northern Ireland, who have raised a really important issue: we are working closely with the Northern Ireland Government to ensure that the improvements we make in the UK market are aligned and that lessons are learnt to ensure that, where we develop stronger and better practice, it is shared with the regulator and the Northern Irish Government. In the end, we must ensure that we have a system that works for all consumers across these isles. Let me conclude by again saying a huge thank you to my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth for raising this important issue, and by offering, if she wishes, to meet to talk in more detail about some of the issues she has raised. I am clear that, without a fair, functioning energy market, our clean power mission will not succeed, energy bills will not come down and consumers will not get justice or access to a system that works for them. That is an absolute imperative for us; that is the priority; that is the thing that drives everything we do. We look forward to working with all hon. Members to achieve that outcome.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Draft Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The regulations were laid before the House on 16 December 2024. They amend two schemes that were created by the previous Government in response to the energy crisis. The amendments address an issue that was not considered in the rush to create the schemes, but has now come to the fore as we bring the schemes to an end. The issue is somewhat technical, so I ask hon. Members bear with me. Both the energy bill relief scheme and the energy bills discount scheme, which I shall refer to as the EBRS and the EBDS, supported non-domestic energy users, including businesses and heat networks. The EBRS supported energy bills from October 2022 to March 2023 and the EBDS supported bills from April 2023 to March 2024. The schemes have processes in place to ensure that, as bills are revised with accurate meter readings, the difference between the discount applied to the estimated bill and that applied to the final bill is reconciled. Suppliers then come back to Government to recover additional discounts they have paid out, or to pay back any excess discounts stemming from an over-estimation of the energy used in the first instance. That is right—the intention behind the schemes has always been for the Government, not the energy suppliers, to meet the cost to the consumer. The regulations allow for the Secretary of State to determine when a supplier should leave the scheme on the basis of an assessment that there will be no further material amount owed by the Department to that supplier. Once a supplier has left the scheme, they are unable to claim back any further moneys from the Department for discounts they paid out on behalf of the schemes. However, as the regulations currently stand, suppliers are still required to pay out discounts on any newly billed energy supplied during the periods of either scheme, even when that situation arises through no fault of their own. This could result in suppliers funding Government support without the ability to recoup those costs from the Department. That is contrary to the intention of the schemes. Consequently, suppliers have been reluctant to leave the schemes, which must come to an end in a timely manner. The amendments in the statutory instrument remove the obligation on suppliers to provide the discounts to customers, except in instances when the consumer has lost out due to poor practices by their energy supplier. In those instances, we have provided carve-outs to balance the interests of suppliers with support and protection for consumers. Carve-outs are in place when a supplier has failed to provide their customers with a bill for energy supplied during the scheme period, when unreasonable delays or another failure has led to the energy not being billed accurately, or when the supplier has unreasonably failed in the duty to provide the discount. The customer should not and will not lose their entitlement to the discount in those circumstances. If any dispute arises between the supplier and the customer in relation to the carve-outs, the resolution mechanisms will be those normally used in the industry, via a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, investigation and potential sanction by the regulator, Ofgem, or court action. The amendments apply to energy suppliers in Great Britain. Separately, the regulations amend the Energy Prices Act 2022 to allow the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland to make amendments to address issues in the Northern Ireland scheme. That is because their power to amend their equivalent legislation has expired. Let me end by saying a few words about the challenges that non-domestic consumers face because of high prices. I know that Members across the Committee are concerned about that. Energy prices for non-domestic customers have dropped below the record peaks during the crisis, but the Government recognise that they remain high and pose issues for some businesses. The Government believe that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and to protect bill payers, including non-domestic consumers, permanently. In the short term, the Government are taking action to better protect businesses from being locked into unfair and expensive energy contracts. Last year, the Government launched a consultation on introducing regulation of third party intermediaries, such as energy brokers. That is aimed at enhancing consumer protections, particularly for non-domestic consumers. The consultation has now closed and the Government will respond in due course. The Government are also empowering businesses to challenge unfair and poor practices by suppliers. Since December 2024, small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 50 employees can have access to free support to resolve issues with their energy supplier through the Energy Ombudsman. That expands the service to 99% of British businesses, allowing them to access up to £20,000 in financial awards. Those are important steps, on which we will continue to build. I hope that hon. Members will support the important regulations, which I commend to the Committee.