Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you for your helpful response.

We touched on the fact that prepayment customers pay more, which is unfair, and so run the risk of losing their energy supply completely for periods of time. No one should have to experience that. Potentially, there will be elderly people, pregnant women and young children in homes that have no heating at all. More action is needed to protect such people. There have been calls for a social tariff, but the UK Government seems to have dismissed the idea. Do you have thoughts on what more can be done to protect people?

Thank you.

My other questions have already been answered, so, unless any other witnesses would like to comment, I will pass back to the convener.

I thank the panel for appearing before the committee this morning and their responses so far.

Could any improvements be made to creditors’ processes and procedures that would help people who are on low incomes and have debt problems? That question is for Peter Kelly, first of all.

I thank the witnesses for their evidence so far this morning.

Some of the earlier comments touched on the breathing space scheme. Do the witnesses have any further suggestions for reforms or improvements to the processes and procedures that could help people who are experiencing debt and mental health problems? That question goes first to Rebecca Stacey.

Thank you, Rebecca. Time is moving on so, unless any other witnesses want to come in, I will pass back to the convener.

I will follow on from some of those responses. In terms of debt with private creditors, could more responsibility be placed on creditors to flag a potential debt before it gets to crisis point? From looking at debt on, for example, credit cards, credit accounts and catalogues, we know that making minimum payments tends to be a real issue for people. No one who is making a minimum payment for accrued debt is doing that for any reason other than that they are in trouble; no one does that if they can pay the full amount. Creditors allow that to go on endlessly and it becomes a horrible vicious circle, with people not clearing any of the original debt.

On food poverty, people are now getting into debt paying for essential items. Creditors are popping up that enable people to buy shopping on a “buy now, pay later” basis, or to pay for shopping over three payments. I have constituents who are paying interest on food items that they bought nine to 12 months ago. That is shocking.

Are there ways in which we can deal with such situations before they become a problem? Rather than letting it get to the stage of a debt arrangement scheme being needed—a bankruptcy process would probably not be relevant—could we reduce debt by removing a portion of the interest accrued or, as I suggested, by getting the creditor to flag up the matter before it becomes an issue?

It seems that when we get rid of one problem organisation or one of those types of creditor, others pop up. Is there a way in which we could limit them? They tend to focus on and target people on low incomes.

Thank you. Does Paul White want to add anything?

We have spoken this morning about the role of local authorities in the delivery of not only a net zero transport system but consistency across the board.

What role can regional transport partnerships play in the delivery of net zero? Do the witnesses feel that that role might differ based on the model of RTP, and could any problems arise from that, given different responsibilities, approaches or, perhaps, inconsistencies?

Thank you.

Scottish Power’s parent company, Iberdrola, has announced that it forecasts a net profit for 2022 of somewhere between €4 billion and €4.2 billion. Taking those profits into consideration, how can Scottish Power justify increasing household utility bills by 54 per cent, in line with the increase in the energy cap? I put that to Keith Anderson.