MAKE THE CONNECTION

Motion Text

That this House welcomes the Make the Connection joint campaign by energywatch and the Federation of Small Businesses to get a better deal for small businesses from the energy market; recognises that small businesses get far less protection from regulation and industry codes of practice than domestic energy consumers, which can lead to them experiencing significant problems in the market; notes that incidences of mis-selling by energy suppliers such as those highlighted in the BBC's Watchdog programme on 24th October 2006 can cause particular detriment to small businesses due to the lack of a cooling-off period in business energy contracts; and calls on business energy suppliers to acknowledge and address this situation and to recognise the importance of small businesses as energy customers, as they spend more than £3 billion each year on gas and electricity.