Trebuchet
@Trebuchet@europe.pub
- Comment on Secret courts' still handing out warrants for energy firms to break into homes 1 hour ago:
ENERGY companies are still relying on closed magistrates’ court hearings to secure warrants against households with unpaid bills, more than three years after the pre-payment meter scandal.
Magistrates are still sitting in private to authorise forced entry, often approving hundreds of warrants at a time based on applications they have never personally reviewed, an investigation by the Standard newspaper revealed yesterday.
It was revealed in 2022 that magistrates’ courts across Britain were effectively rubber-stamping mass batches of warrants for debt agencies, acting on behalf of energy firms.
Many of those targeted were among the poorest households, already hit by the cost-of-living crisis, with agents breaking into homes to install expensive pre-payment meters.
In response, the government promised a clean-up of the system.
Energy firms paid out £70 million in compensation, while regulator Ofgem opened investigations into the practices of British Gas, Utilita and Ovo.
A new court process for approving warrants was introduced in April 2024 following approval by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring.
The revised system was intended to introduce safeguards, including a requirement for energy firms to give at least 10 days’ notice of an application, to attempt contact with a household at least 10 times and to wait at least a month after a missed bill before applying for a warrant.
But a year-long probe found that magistrates are now carrying out the work almost entirely in secret, sometimes from home.
Failures by debt agencies to comply with legal requirements were also found to be routinely brushed aside.
End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said the findings exposed “a deeply troubling practice where people struggling with unaffordable energy bills are condemned through the courts out of sight and without a voice.”
He said: “It’s time to stop criminalising energy debt and allowing these cases to be pursued through a court system which is clearly unfit for the purpose.
“Instead, we need action to fix the causes. Reforming energy pricing so bills are affordable, providing targeted financial support for households in cold, damp homes and rolling out insulation and energy efficiency upgrades.
“No-one should fear court action or forced entry simply because they cannot afford to heat their home.”
The chief magistrate has launched a formal investigation following the findings.
- Comment on fawlty towers? 2 weeks ago:
Straight outta Eton
- Comment on YSK that the current US Defense Secretary was previously a lobbyist hired by for-profit colleges. Many americans have no idea about that. 2 months ago:
Honestly, that’s possibly the least troubling thing about Hegseth.
- Comment on No weirdo's please 3 months ago:
Gah! That fucking apostrophe!!!
- Comment on [Video] Cops not sure whether to arrest man with "Plasticine Action" shirt for supporting terrorism 4 months ago:
Scot Squad in action
- Comment on Members of public to be selected for ‘honest conversation’ about MPs’ pay 5 months ago:
The bigger issue is that the job attracts grifters who only want the job so they can enrich themselves. An educated electorate is one part of the solution (as naively fanciful as that sounds), but we also need some hard and fast regulations which are policed and enforced.
- Comment on Android 16 can warn you that you might be connected to a fake cell tower 5 months ago:
There will be a law enforcement workaround within a year, I’d bet, but we need more tools like this to defend users from oppressive surveillance
- Comment on GendBuntu: How France’s Military-Police switched 100,000+ PCs to Linux 6 months ago:
Magnificent.
- Comment on [deleted] 6 months ago:
Based on what I’ve written I’d guess you and your husband were raised in ultra conservative Christian households. What you’re doing to your son is borderline abusive. You’re setting him up to either be a dangerous, maladjusted outsider to mainstream society or, if the US continues on its current trajectory, a dangerous, maladjusted insider who will inflict cruelty on those who are different from him. You need to change now.
- Comment on [deleted] 6 months ago:
Ooft, so many red flags.
- Comment on [deleted] 6 months ago:
Your son will cut all contact with you both as soon as he’s able.