Call for written evidence: Smart Meters Bill

Do you have relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Smart Meters Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament?

If so, you can submit your views in writing to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this Bill.

Aims of the Bill

The Smart Meters Bill aims to:

• ·         Extend existing powers the Secretary of State has to develop, amend and oversee regulations relating to smart metering.
• ·         Introduce a special administration regime for the national smart meter communication and data service provider to ensure the service continues to be provided in the unlikely event of its insolvency.

Follow the progress of the Smart Meters Bill

The Smart Meters Bill was presented to the House of Commons on 18 October 2017 and had its second reading debate on 24 October 2017.

• ·         Catch up on Parliament News: MPs debate the Smart Meters Bill
• ·         Bills before Parliament: Smart Meters Bill 2017–19
• ·         Read Explanatory Notes: Smart Meters Bill 2017–19
• ·         House of Commons Library Briefing Paper

This Bill has now been committed to a Public Bill Committee which will hold its oral evidence sessions on Tuesday 21 November 2017. The Public Bill Committee must conclude by Thursday 30 November 2017.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration and possibly reflect it in an amendment. The order in which amendments are taken in Committee will be available in due course under Selection of Amendments on the Bill documents pages. Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.

The Committee is expected to meet for the first time on Tuesday 21 November 2017; it will stop receiving written evidence at the end of the Committee stage on Thursday 30 November 2017. Please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Thursday 30 November 2017.

What should written evidence cover?

Your submission should address matters contained within the Bill and concentrate on issues where you have a special interest or expertise, and factual information of which you would like the Committee to be aware. 

Your submission could most usefully:

• ·         suggest amendments to the Bill, with supporting explanation; and
• ·         (when amendments are published) support or oppose amendments tabled to the Bill by Members of Parliament, with supporting explanation

It is helpful if the submission includes a brief introduction about you or your organisation. The submission should not have been previously published or circulated elsewhere.

If you have any concerns about your submission, please contact the Scrutiny Unit (details below).

How should written evidence be submitted?

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk. Please note that submissions sent to the Government department in charge of the Bill will not be treated as evidence to the Public Bill Committee.

Submissions should be in the form of a Word document. A summary should be provided. Paragraphs should be numbered, but there should be no page numbering. Essential statistics or further details can be added as annexes, which should also be numbered. 

As a guideline, submissions should not exceed 3,000 words.

Please include in the covering email the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person responsible for the submission. The submission should be dated.

What will happen to my evidence?

The written evidence will be circulated to all Committee Members to inform their consideration of the Bill.

Most submissions will also be published on the internet as soon as possible after the Committee has started sitting.