Meeting of the Parliament 20 May 2025
Right. Thank you.
We have asked for a fund to support consumers who are in that position, and we have called on Ofgem, the UK Government and industry to make urgent progress. Dr Allan wrote to them recently about that, but I am not entirely sure what response he has had to date. It might be in the works.
I will say a few words on resilience planning. The RTS switch-off could have a profound impact on some of our public services as well, and I reassure the Parliament that we are working across Government, and with suppliers and the regulator, to plan for any outcomes that would affect our national health service, local authorities and other public services. The Scottish Government will play its full and proper part in any resilience planning and response.
I assure members that I have heard everyone loud and clear on the confusion that still reigns about this issue. Rachael Hamilton made the absolutely fundamental point that the failure to communicate effectively has been the root of a lot of the problems. Consumers are left confused and, once they get over the confusion, they go out of their way to arrange things, but they are not being served particularly well. I will take all of that away.