(Bridgend) (Lab): A
constituent was diagnosed with a glioma brain tumour in 2013, and
she was given between three and five years to live. There is no
treatment, but currently she is stable. She moved house and found
a smart meter in place, and she has become extremely anxious and
fearful about microwave radiation from that smart meter
exacerbating the brain tumour. She went to British Gas and asked
for it to be removed, but it refused, so she came to me. British
Gas sent the most awful reply, basically refusing to remove the
meter. May we have a debate about the responsibility of utility
companies to consider people with serious medical conditions who
have concerns and anxieties about issues such as smart meters,
and to meet their consumer protection duties?
Leader of the House of Commons (Andrea Leadsom):
I am so sorry to hear about the illness of the hon. Lady’s
constituent, and I am glad that she turned to the hon. Lady to
seek help. I am sure she will have dealt with the issue in her
usual forthright way. She raises an important point, which is
that private sector businesses and public sector services need to
deal with the unique circumstances in which some of our
constituents find themselves. I am sympathetic to her concerns,
and I encourage her to seek either an Adjournment debate on that
specific point, or a more general debate about consumer
protection in Westminster Hall.
