Ofgem director QUITS in protest energy regulator isn’t doing enough to help Brits

The government has come under fire after an Ofgem director quit – claiming the regulator has failed to protect struggling households.

Christine Farnish walked away from the under-fire watchdog, claiming it has not “struck the right balance between the interests of consumers and the interests of suppliers”.

Labour’s shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband accused the government of being “asleep at the wheel” after the bombshell resignation.

It comes as Brits face months of misery which could see the energy price cap rise as high as £5,500 in the spring, according to bleak forecasts.

Mr Miliband said: “For 12 years, the Conservatives have totally failed to regulate (the) energy market. In no other country has 32 energy suppliers gone bust.

“We simply cannot allow the British people to suffer a further increase in bills. It is intolerable that the Conservatives continue to offer no solutions to this crisis, and oppose Labour’s plan.”

The energy regulator has faced criticism in recent months for not doing enough to protect families during the global energy crisis.

Ms Farnish, who served on the Ofgem board for several years, told the paper: “I resigned from the Ofgem board because I could not support a key decision to recover additional supplier costs from consumer bills this winter.”

She said she believes the move will “add several hundred pounds to everyone’s bill in order to support a number of suppliers in the coming months”.

It is understood her resignation is linked to Ofgem’s decision to change the methodology of the price cap to allow suppliers to recover some of the high energy “backwardation” costs sooner rather than later.

An Ofgem spokesman said: “We are thankful to Christine for her many years of devoted service to Ofgem.

“Due to this unprecedented energy crisis, Ofgem is having to make some incredibly difficult decisions where carefully balanced trade-offs are being weighed up all the time. But we always prioritise consumers’ needs both in the immediate and long term.

“The rest of the board decided a shorter recovery period for energy costs was in the best interest of consumers in the long term by reducing the very real risk of suppliers going bust, which would heap yet more costs on to bills and add unnecessary worry and concern at an already very difficult time.”

The resignation comes amid mounting pressure on the Government to bring forward extra measures to tackle surging inflation and rising energy bills.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said: “We are aware of a resignation at the board of Ofgem, which has been accepted.”

A poll released by campaign group 38 Degrees found 86% of the public and 85% Tory voters, are in favour of keeping the cap at its current level of £1,971.

It comes as the government comes under fire over its shambolic response to the impending catastrophe, with pensioner deaths anticipated to reach “unprecedented” levels and more than 120,000 people calling for an emergency budget now.