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The backbench Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, Graham Leadbitter, has tabled a new Private Members Bill (PMB) that seeks to make it mandatory for energy, broadband, and mobile providers to offer cheaper Social Tariffs to consumers in receipt of certain state benefits (e.g. Universal Credit).
Ofcom has already been reasonably successful in encouraging quite a lot of broadband providers, as well as a few mobile operators, to offer Social Tariffs (see note below). Admittedly the issue isn’t quite as relevant to mobile providers, where it’s already possible to buy some incredibly cheap mobile plans, although politicians haven’t always recognised that fact.
Despite this, the newly proposed Utilities (Social Tariff) Bill appears to be seeking for utility providers to offer Social Tariffs as part of a mandatory, rather than voluntary, requirement. The bill, which was first tabled yesterday by Graham Leadbitter MP and backed by several fellow MPs from the SNP, has not yet been published and is due to get a second reading on Friday 27th November 2026.