TACKLING FUEL POVERTY

That this House is deeply concerned about the effect a 40 per cent. increase in domestic fuel prices will have on pensioners, the poor and the vulnerable this winter; urges energy companies to accept the Department for Work and Pensions £40 money-back voucher scheme for the elderly on pension credits; demands that fuel companies charge no more for pre-payment meters than the extra cost of operating them; congratulates The People newspaper on its hard-hitting fuel poverty campaign; calls on the Government to use its influence abroad to end the link between gas and oil prices and its influence at home to encourage more market competition; and supports a windfall tax on the profits of the Big Six power giants unless they do more to help the fuel poor.