TOOTHLESS WATCHDOG

"The government will be publicly castigated this week over its failure to help poor people - by the watchdog that ministers set up to monitor fuel poverty. Ofgem, the energy regulator, will also be criticised for not stopping energy companies from making excessive profits at the expense of consumers. Peter Lehmann, chairman of the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, will criticise the government over its record on fuel poverty, which he labelled 'incomprehensible, unjustifiable and shocking'. Consumers now pay more than 50 per cent more on utility bills compared with five years ago, yet energy companies' costs have risen by only a fraction of this. In the past month, four of the biggest suppliers have announced substantial rises in the price of gas and electricity." (Observer, 3 February) RD