Ofgem conflict of interest!!! Calling on the government to investigate

Video update and instructions: https://youtu.be/kbExrG-La1w

Written update and instructions: https://www.over50smoney.com/Home+Bills/Energy/405__Ofgem+Director+wife+held+shares+in+Big+6+energy+company+for+almost+2+years+during+energy+crisis

Hi everyone,

Today I wrote to my local MP about a conflict of interest we discovered within Ofgem from June 2021 to April 2023. Neil Lawrence, director of retail, had a conflict of interest as his wife owned shares in a Big 6 energy supplier until April 2023. The conflict was allowed to continue for almost two years due to a mistake made by Ofgem. Mr Lawrence was the Director of Retail, in charge of maintaining and changing the price cap, from June 2021 until summer 2023.

We’re not accusing Mr Lawrence of anything untoward, but a full independent investigation into the financial impact to Mr Lawrence and his family from the decisions he made as director of retail at Ofgem during this time is warranted. Under his directorship, Ofgem made over 20 decisions that increased the level of the price cap, further than the increases experienced due to the wholesale gas crisis. These decisions have the potential to have increased the value of his wife’s shares, hence the conflict of interest.

I’ve called upon my MP to raise this to the new SoS for Energy Security and Net Zero, and call for an investigation. Today I wanted to inform you of what I’m doing and to give you the opportunity to get involved. If you’d like to contact your local MP as well, please see the below instructions.

Find your local MP: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

Email your local MP (remember to include your address at the end so they know you are a constituent, otherwise they won’t reply).

Send the following message:

Good morning/afternoon,

I’m contacting you as I have become aware of a conflict of interest in Ofgem leadership during the period of June 2021 to April 2023. The Director of Retail at the time, Neil Lawrence, had a conflict of interest as his wife held shares in SSE, one of Big 6 energy suppliers and one of the UK’s top generators.

The indirect holding of these shares brings in to question whether every decision made by Mr Lawrence was in the best interest of consumers or whether another motive was afoot. During his directorship, over 20 decisions were made by Ofgem to either increase allowances in the price cap or to add new allowances in the price cap, pushing up customer bills by over £300. Mr Lawrence’s role as Director of Retail directly oversaw these changes.

I am asking for you to raise this concern with Claire Coutinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, and whom ever else in government needs to know. I’m also asking for the following:

·         Launch an investigation using independent auditors to determine how much Mr Lawrence and his family personally gained from decisions he made while Director of Retail

·         Find out why Ofgem did not follow their own internal policies for managing conflicts of interest

·         Instruct Ofgem to launch a review into each of the policies listed in the article below, focusing on how each of them impact consumers and reversing any decisions that negatively impact consumers and positively impacted Mr Lawrence’s personal circumstances

You can find a list of the policies that have be finalised under Mr Lawrence’s directorship that increased our bills at the bottom of the following article: https://www.over50smoney.com/Home+Bills/Energy/403__Ofgem+increase+supplier+profits+from+1+October+2023

Please let me know how you plan to proceed with this request.

Kind regards,

{your name}

{your address}

I usually ask that you CC in support@over50smoney.com to these emails but as you are including your address I completely understand that you may not want to. Perhaps just drop us an email after you’ve contacted your MP if you get chance, I only ask this so we can know how many queries have been raised.

Please do forward on any responses you receive from your local MPs. I’ll update you once we’ve heard more. I am hopeful that there is nothing untoward here, but as the conflict existed I feel it’s our responsibility to ask for the investigation and clarity around the processes Ofgem go through and whether we’ve been negatively impacted by their mistake.

Kind regards,

Richard Winstone