SAFEGUARDING STANDARDS FOR ENERGY CONSUMERS

Early day motion 867, tabled 4 February 2008 by Mark Todd (Labour). Signed by 78 members.

That this House notes that new arrangements for consumer redress in the energy sector will be introduced on 1st October 2008; welcomes the fact that these will require energy suppliers to take additional responsibility for resolving their own complaints in a manner that adheres to a statutory complaint handling standard; urges Ofgem to ensure its formulation of the statutory standard does not diminish the protection currently enjoyed by energy consumers; believes independent verification of company complaints data is essential to ensuring data quality, transparency and providing sufficient incentives on companies to invest in improving their customer service, and must therefore be required under the standard; further believes that the standard should oblige companies to share their complaints data with the new National Consumer Council in a timely manner so that consumers can compare customer service performance when choosing a company; and calls on the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to reject any complaint handling standard that does not meet these requirements.

Signatures by party: Labour 51, Liberal Democrat 19, Conservative 2, DUP 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Independent 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.