Energy companies have agreed to slash switching times by half by the end of the year, the Government has announced.

That means consumers will soon be able to switch energy suppliers in around two and a half weeks rather than five weeks.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: “Faster switching is the latest in the many steps we’ve taken to improve the poorly performing energy markets we inherited from Ed Miliband in 2010. With more suppliers, simpler bills and less complex tariffs than in 2010, switching can now save some people hundreds of pounds off their energy bills. So we wanted to make it faster to switch as well as easier and now we know we can.”

Mr Davey however added he still wants to see the switching period cut down to as far as 24 hours.

Energy UK, energy companies and relevant industry bodies have completed the work on proposals to modify electricity and gas codes which is expected to allow faster switching.

The proposed changes have been referred to Ofgem which will now make a decision on whether to approve the plans as soon as possible.

Angela Knight, Chief Executive of Energy UK said: “The energy industry believes in faster switching and will make it a reality for customers as quickly as we can and as soon as the legal and technical challenges are overcome.

“Switching is already simple: just pop in your post code, pop in your how much gas and electricity you use – which is on every bill – and Bob’s your uncle. It’s as simple as that as over quarter of a million customers find every month.”

More than two million people switched energy suppliers between October last year and March this year.