Ms Issy Petrie:

I will just touch on the supply switching aspect. As the Senator said, there are more barriers to switching, particularly for households in energy poverty. There are gains from switching as well, such as the discounts for direct debit customers and online management. Switching can also feel more like a risk if people know that their energy costs and wider finances are in a precarious situation. Then switching feels like a bigger risk for them than it might be for other people. They might have built up a relationship with their supplier or feel confident that they know how to manage their costs with their supplier. That is one element. This is one area - I am sure there are other interventions as well - where community energy advisers could have an important role in providing that one-to-one tailored support. We know that people find bills hard to navigate. Bills have a huge amount of information on them without people having to look at different suppliers and information between different suppliers. We think community energy advisers could be a good targeted way of reaching people in energy poverty and increasing their confidence and increasing the kind of information they have as to how to navigate the energy market to get the best deal for them.

Having said that, switching is never going to be the whole solution for people in energy poverty. As Senator Boylan said, there are fewer gains to be had from switching at present. There also need to be other tariff interventions and other interventions to make sure there is protection.