Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 30 November 2022.
Yes, I absolutely agree: the UK Government does need to be using all of its influence on the energy companies to reduce the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the most vulnerable people. And just to reassure the Member—and I could hear a lot of support for what he was saying from others in the Chamber—that the Minister for Social Justice has met with energy suppliers earlier this month, and she did press them on this particular issue. And she has also previously sought and been given assurances by energy companies that arrangements were in place to reach out to households that were struggling with energy bills. And they did recognise the need to build in appropriate mechanisms of support, based on people's ability to pay, such as writing off short-term energy debt, agreeing affordable repayment plans, based on the ability to pay, and, where appropriate, referring households to schemes to improve their energy efficiency and reduce bills. So, I think now we need to be pressing energy companies to demonstrate what they've done in response to those discussions.