Job losses across the Islands at Ovo Energy are worrying, says the Isles MP.

Na h-Eileanan an Iar MP Angus MacNeil has written to Ovo Energy to raise his concerns about plans to remove meter engineering jobs.

Ovo Energy bought over SSE’s retail arm in January 2020 and last week they announced job losses. 

Mr MacNeil has been informed that the energy giant is planning to make metering engineers redundant in the Highlands and Islands.

Commenting Angus MacNeil said: “This is a real blow for the metering engineers who are highly skilled and carry out essential work on heritage and smart meters. 

“Meter faults do happen and if there are no meter engineers employed in the islands customers could have a lengthy wait for an engineer to visit.

“I have asked Ovo Energy to explain how they intend to provide this service to their customers and I have also made Ofgem aware of this situation."

Ovo Energy is the UK's third-largest household supplier is reported to have informed staff of its decision to cut its workforce by a quarter.

Around 1,700 roles will go in a bid to save money as the industry battles crippling rises in the cost of raw energy, especially gas, that have led 25 firms to collapse since August last year.

Its plans were also understood to have included a commitment to increase minimum pay across the company to £12-an-hour.