Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

Public Accounts Committee HC 1232 Published 1 November 2023

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

25 items (4 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 24 of 25 classified

Accepted 16

Acknowledged 5

Not Addressed 3

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Seventy-fourth report from Session 2022-23 · published 14 Feb 2024

Read the government response ↗ Response on the Index

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items

22 Conclusion Not Addressed

Government implemented extensive £69 billion financial measures to support energy bill payers.

Conclusion

Over the course of 2022, the government announced £69 billion worth of measures to protect billpayers from price increases. In February 2022, it announced a £200 upfront reduction in customers’ bills from October 2022, which was expected to be repaid … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government's response describes existing and ongoing energy support schemes (EPG, cost-of-living payments, EBDS, WHD) for households and businesses. However, the original committee item was a descriptive statement of past government measures, not a recommendation, and the response does not address any specific implicit recommendations from it.

HM Treasury

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23 Recommendation Not Addressed

Improve administrative processes to increase energy bill support voucher redemption rates for vulnerable customers.

Recommendation

We examined the government’s support for customers’ and businesses’ energy bills in November 2022 and June 2023. We concluded that many vulnerable customers faced extra challenges accessing benefits designed to help people with their energy bills. We also found that … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states it agrees and that the recommendation is implemented, but its response describes ongoing general energy support schemes like the EPG and Warm Home Discount. It does not specifically detail how it has addressed administrative barriers or increased the redemption rate for past energy vouchers as explicitly recommended.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion

Ofgem's energy price cap directly impacts average household energy bills.

Conclusion

The energy price cap limits the rates suppliers can charge customers for the standing charge and for each unit of electricity and gas used. The price cap is set by Ofgem at a level that is largely based on the … Read more

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Not Addressed

Energy Bill Discount Scheme excludes some energy-intensive businesses from higher support

Conclusion

In our June 2023 report on Energy Bills Support, we found that the government planned to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. This would support businesses for 12 months from April 2023 by providing … Read more In our June 2023 report on Energy Bills Support, we found that the government planned to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. This would support businesses for 12 months from April 2023 by providing a discount on their energy bills if wholesale prices were above a certain threshold. Businesses in certain Energy and Trade-Intensive sectors would receive a higher level of support, based on the government’s standard industrial classification of sectors.53 We therefore asked the Department to update us on whether there had been any assessment of the change 47 Committee of Public Accounts, Regulation of energy suppliers, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 41, 13 November 2022; and Energy Bills Support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023 48 Committee of Public Accounts, Energy Bills support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023, para 13 49 Qq 11–13 50 Letter from Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive of Ofgem to Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair, Public Accounts Committee, 14 June 2023 51 Committee of Public Accounts, Regulation of energy suppliers, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 41, 13 November 2022 52 Qq 2–3; Energy Price Guarantee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ; Default Tariff Cap | Ofgem 53 Committee of Public Accounts, Energy Bills support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023, para 20 Bulb Energy 19 in the support being provided and the impact it had. The Department told us that an Energy Bill Discount Scheme was in place for all businesses to provide a base level of support. In April 2023, the Department also announced additional support for businesses classified as Energy and Trade Intensive.54 We again noted that some Energy and Trade Intensive businesses such as laundrettes and the hospitality sector were not included in the classification and so were not eligible to receive additional support. The Department explained that defining an Energy and Show less

Government Response Summary

The government's response describes the ongoing Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) and its provisions for non-domestic customers and heat networks. However, it does not address the committee's specific concerns regarding the lack of assessment of the scheme's impact or the exclusion of certain businesses from additional support.

HM Treasury

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