§ Mr. Pendryasked the Secretary of State for Energy when the results of the monitoring of the code of practice on the payment of domestic electricity and gas bills are to be reviewed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. John CunninghamThe code of practice on the payment of gas and electricity bills was voluntarily adopted and published by the electricity and gas industries on 13th December 1976. It has previously been discussed with the Government and had their full support. The code's purpose has been to provide consumers with guidance on the steps to take if they expect difficulty in paying their bills. It also lays down safeguards which the industries have agreed to apply in cases of genuine hardship before disconnecting supply in cases of debt.
The code itself specifies that it will be subject to continuous assessment. To this end the industries have been providing their respective consumer councils and the Department of Energy at regular intervals with information on the operation of the code. The area electricity consultative councils and regional gas consumer councils have also been examining particular cases selected at random.
The code has been in operation for just over a year, including the full winter of 1977–78. It has helped the liaison arrangements between both industries and local DHSS offices and local authority social services departments for identifying cases of hardship. The protection of such cases from disconnection is one of the code's main objectives.
The industries, together with their respective consumer councils, have now agreed with the Department of Energy to carry out a review of the results of their continuous monitoring of the code. The experience of DHSS local offices and local authority social services departments will also be taken into account. This review does not imply that the code has been found to be inadequate, but is an attempt to discover whether there are any worthwhile improvements which should be made. For this purpose both the provisions of the code and the maner 266W in which it has been operated will be examined. The aim would be to implement any agreed changes in the winter of 1978–79.
The review will be carried out under my chairmanship, and will start towards the end of July. Any representative organisation or individual with views about the code's provisions or operation and with practical suggestions for its improvement which they believe to be relevant to the review are invited to send them to the Electricity Consumers' Council or National Gas Consumers' Council, or—if their interest is local or regional rather than national—to the appropriate area electricity consultative council or regional gas consumers' council. It is important that any suggestions for changes to the code should be accompanied by evidence that they are necessary.
Any suggestions should be sent in as soon as possible and in any event before 31st August 1978.