SOCIAL ENERGY TARIFFS

That this House notes the agreement for the UK's energy suppliers to spend £150 million a year on initiatives to help the fuel poor by March 2010-11; views with concern the fact that initiatives being proposed include social tariffs that are more expensive than the supplier's best offer; notes that Ofgem's definition sets the threshold for a social tariff rate as being `at least as good as the suppliers' standard direct debit tariff'; further notes that since many fuel-poor households currently pay by direct debit, a significant proportion of people living in fuel poverty are effectively excluded from any additional assistance; believes that recent price increases and the potential for further price increases means there is an urgent need for additional assistance that reaches fuel-poor households; and supports representations made to Ofgem and the major energy suppliers by Energywatch, the Parliamentary Warm Homes Group and a coalition of NGOs that would require social tariffs offered to those hit hardest by increasing energy prices to mean the lowest tariffs that suppliers offer on the market.