§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints were received by Energywatch on switching energy suppliers in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [167772]
§ Mr. TimmsDuring 2003, 3.1 million domestic gas customers and 4.2 million domestic electricity customers changed their suppler. In that period, Energywatch received 22,437 complaints from domestic consumers about the transfer process, including complaints about both erroneous transfers and problems in switching supplier. The gas and electricity industry, with the involvement of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and Energywatch, and with the encouragement of DTI, is currently engaged in a three-stage programme to establish the causes of difficulties within the transfer process and identify and implement solutions.