§ Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of his Department's Public Service Agreements relate to fuel poverty reduction and what progress has been made to date in achieving them [79496]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Department for Work and Pensions has no Public Service Agreement relating to a reduction in fuel poverty. Departments that do have Public Service Agreements on fuel poverty will report on progress against the targets in the Autumn Performance Reports, which will be published shortly.
§ Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in developing improvements to the Fuel Direct scheme; what the purpose of an improved scheme will be; and by what date a revised scheme is likely to be in place. [79495]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Fuel Direct scheme is designed to protect the fuel supplies of people receiving income-related benefits—particularly families—who have run up arrears, by making payments direct from their benefit to the supplier until the debt is cleared. The scheme works well and there are no plans for a radical overhaul.
As part of the Government's Fuel Poverty Strategy the Department has been working with the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) to make a number of operational improvements to the scheme for the benefit of both customers and suppliers. The first stage of these improvements was introduced in March 2001 and work is underway to further modernise the scheme.