Ms Issy Petrie:

I will touch on district heating. We have members who are supporting households in group district heating schemes who have been exposed to these much higher rates of heating because of exposure to the commercial rate side of things.

Members are supporting these households but I do not think there is yet that kind of adequate financial solution, whatever it may be, to mitigate against this extra exposure these households have during the price crisis. Households have been shouldering these bills so that has led to greater levels of energy poverty and deprivation for households on low incomes. In that situation, additional needs payments have a role to play in meeting extra costs but I am sure there are other financial interventions that could be put in place. It is really important that these households are brought into standard domestic consumer protections. Currently, they are not covered by the same consumer protections as gas and electricity customers in terms of negotiating arrears repayments or registering as a vulnerable customer so they cannot be disconnected and need that extra level of support. They need to be urgently brought into these standard domestic consumer protections.

This speaks to a wider point about seeing what is coming down the line for consumers, spotting these things before they happen and preparing the consumer protection infrastructure and anything else that needs to be prepared in advance so that when these situations occur, we can respond to them quickly. It is a similar situation with heat pumps in that we are also seeing people with high costs from heat pumps. Our recommendation is for a consumer advocacy agency that has a remit to identify how technology and the market are changing and where this is going to intersect with consumers' experience, particularly more vulnerable consumers' experience; and to engage with the regulator and policy to prepare in advance for these situations.