Prepayment Meters

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 8 February 2023.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 3:26, 8 February 2023

Thank you, Presiding Officer, for allowing the question. Minister, I’m grateful to you for your answers so far today on the abhorrent practices that we saw last week. I do not absolve the UK Government from responsibility in this; they do have responsibility. They’re ultimately the Government that sets the legislative framework. But one thing I do think is a fundamental weakness here is the point that Jenny Rathbone made and others have made: Ofgem is completely not fit to purpose. I speak from a business point of view, and I declare an interest in that I’ve had interaction with Ofgem. I’ve raised it with the First Minister himself here on several occasions in First Minister’s questions about Wales having its own place on the board of Ofgem—a dedicated board member, so that Welsh interests can be truly represented.

I understand the Welsh Government meet periodically with them, as you’ve done today. Did you pose the question to those board members today? Do they consider, in light of the evidence over the last 12 months, that they themselves are fit for purpose, given the blight that we’ve seen on people’s lives with the revelations that came out last week, but also the impotency they seem to have in face of what’s gone on in the electric and energy market over the last 12 months in particular, where businesses and consumers have felt helpless at the hands of many large companies who’ve shown no respect for the wishes and concerns of people and the situations they find themselves in?