ENERGY COMPANY PROFITS AND FUEL PRICES

That this House notes that in the last year Shell made £22 billion profits, the largest annual corporate profit in British history; further notes that Shell and BP are expected to make a windfall gain of £9 billion from being allocated free pollution permits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; further notes that the big cuts in world energy prices over the last six months have been only partially passed on to the consumer in that the price of unleaded petrol has fallen only 25 per cent. over the same period that the price of a barrel of oil has fallen 67 per cent.; is deeply concerned that nearly five million households most of them pensioners remain in fuel poverty at a time of intensely cold weather; and calls on the Government to claw-back these windfall gains from the energy companies and redistribute the proceeds towards pensioners and other low-income households, especially through standardised social tariffs ensuring significantly lower energy prices for all households in fuel poverty.