Speeches by Hobhouse.

“But it is often the customers who have the responsibility. It seems that there is an imbalance, because it is the customers who pick up that a bill is not accurate. They even have to query when something has been billed incorrectly.”

“Thank you for coming to give evidence. We have already heard you say that the number of back billing is in the low thousands, but the impact on those who are at the other end and are being back billed is quite high, therefore it is important that we raise all these questions. Why do you think that so many energy suppli…”

“If the display does not work, that is a transparency issue: if I think this is what I've consumed and the energy company records something entirely different, that is just not acceptable, is it?”

“That is a high number.”

“Given the number of faulty smart meters, do you believe that they have reduced incidences of wrongful back billing, or simply introduced new technical errors?”

“But it is often the customers who have the responsibility. It seems that there is an imbalance, because it is the customers who pick up that a bill is not accurate. They even have to query when something has been billed incorrectly.”

“Thank you for coming to give evidence. We have already heard you say that the number of back billing is in the low thousands, but the impact on those who are at the other end and are being back billed is quite high, therefore it is important that we raise all these questions. Why do you think that so many energy suppli…”

“Do you think that it is because of the smart meters that companies can now back bill, when in the past they would have written the bills off?”

“That is a high number.”

“If the display does not work, that is a transparency issue: if I think this is what I've consumed and the energy company records something entirely different, that is just not acceptable, is it?”

“As well as overt discrimination, there are many hidden ethnic disparities, particularly in healthcare. Mortality rates in maternity services are four times higher for black women and twice as high for Asian women. What discussions is the Minister having with the Department of Health and Social Care to address those hug…”

“Given the number of faulty smart meters, do you believe that they have reduced incidences of wrongful back billing, or simply introduced new technical errors?”

“Do you think that it is because of the smart meters that companies can now back bill, when in the past they would have written the bills off?”

“Rental income from social housing is currently 16% below inflation. Homes for the South West, which includes Curo in my constituency, is under a contractual obligation to do repairs while also building new homes under increasingly stretched grant funding systems. It makes doing both nigh impossible. May we have a debat…”

“Since leaving the European Union, we have been diverging progressively and passively —not making an active decision to diverge because it is good for us, but because we cannot keep up with the number of regulations coming through the European Union. That has been particularly disadvantageous for energy trading. What co…”

“I declare an interest as the vice-chair of the newly formed all-party parliamentary group on emergency care. A&E staffing across the country is dangerously low, especially at night, putting unacceptable pressure on staff, who warn persistently about the risks to patient safety. Hundreds of keen applicants are being…”

“It is a very technical problem. You talked about the regulatory changes, and I would be interested in that because that regulatory change seems to be at the bottom of a lot of the costs that make community energy very high, when it could be quite low—but I understand we are coming maybe to this at a different point. Ca…”

“Okay, there seems to be agreement with the panel so I will move on. To encourage investment and increase public awareness of community energy, should the Government consider an information campaign combined with a guarantee scheme for investment of up to £10,000?”

“The Chair is keen to move on, so a big yes to both questions.”

“I have been dying to ask this question about the hard-to-do things. Louise, you mentioned the high proportion of private rented sector. With shared ownership, yes, you own the energy that is being produced or whatever and you get a share in the profit, but the main thing is, of course, that you should benefit in lower …”