Energy Act 2010

10 Schemes for reducing fuel poverty: supplementary E+W+S

(1) A support scheme may make provision about arrangements to be made by scheme suppliers to ensure that, so far as practicable, scheme customers receive the benefits to be provided under the scheme, which may in particular include provision about—

(a) arrangements for enabling scheme suppliers to identify scheme customers;

(b) arrangements for drawing to the attention of scheme customers—

(i) the fact that benefits are available under the scheme, and

(ii) ways of applying for those benefits;

(c) arrangements for paying or otherwise providing the benefits.

(2) A support scheme may include provision for prohibiting scheme suppliers from discriminating against scheme customers or persons who, if they were customers of scheme suppliers, would be scheme customers.

(3) A support scheme—

(a) may require scheme suppliers to make payments to the Secretary of State or the Authority in respect of costs which either of them incurs for the purposes of the provision of evidence as mentioned in section 9(5)(c) for the purposes of the scheme, and

(b) must make provision for the payment into the Consolidated Fund of any sums so received.

(4) Without prejudice to section 31(5), a support scheme may in particular—

(a) provide for different criteria to be applied for the purpose of identifying scheme customers of different scheme suppliers;

(b) provide for different benefits, or different amounts of benefits, to be provided by different scheme suppliers or to different scheme customers;

(c) impose requirements in relation to scheme suppliers by reference to pre-existing arrangements.

(5) A support scheme may make provision for requiring scheme suppliers to provide to the Authority such information as the Authority may require for the purpose of carrying out its functions in relation to the scheme.

(6) A support scheme may provide that, in such cases or circumstances as may be specified in the scheme, the Secretary of State may determine that any requirement of the scheme—

(a) is not to apply, or

(b) is to apply subject to modifications,

and the support scheme may provide for any such determination to be made subject to such conditions or limitations as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.

(7) If the Secretary of State makes, amends or revokes, a determination in accordance with provision included in a support scheme by virtue of subsection (6), the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a memorandum of the determination, amendment or revocation.