Hunt unveils measures to ensure customers get fair pricing
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has drafted an action plan with authorities to ensure customers are being facing fair prices during the cost of living crisis.
Hunt sat down with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the regulators for the energy, water and communications sectors, early on Wednesday 28 June at 11 Downing Street.
He was examining whether the groups could use their authority to help keep prices low following accusations that businesses were profiting from the cost of living crisis.
Among the attendees were CEOs from the CMA, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat.
“I am pleased we’ve secured agreement with the regulators to act urgently in areas where consumers need most support to ensure they are treated fairly,” Hunt said.
As part of the plan, Ofwat has agreed to crack down on water companies “not going far enough” to support customers to pay their bills, access help and repay debts.
The water authority also vowed to hold water companies to account over delivering existing social tariffs for those unable to pay water bills, as well as allowing consumers to “apply for payment holidays and offering support to those on low incomes”.
It comes after reports in The Times said water firms were allegedly drawing up plans to hike household water bills by up to 40 per cent.
While inflation has showed signs of easing, many households still struggle when it comes to paying bills.
In efforts to help shoppers pay fairer prices, the CMA has also agreed to bring forward their update of competition and unit pricing in the grocery sector to earlier in July.
The measures come after supermarkets were placed under increasing pressure to answer for rising prices in stores.
‘Big Four’ grocers insisted in a committee hearing with MPs on Tuesday that they were not profiteering, with Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’s, stating that the grocer was doing everything it could to “keep prices as low for customers as possible,” Bartlett said.
“Input costs are not being fully passed through to our shelf prices,” she added.
Food inflation fell to 14.6 per cent this month, down from 15.4 per cent in May, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show.
Price-cutting initiatives introduced by supermarkets were credited by the body for the dip.
City A.M . has contacted the BRC for a comment.