Re: @Red Bren Smart meters in "dumb"
"Is there any way of telling if I've been duped with a dormant smart meter that could get reanimated at a later date?"
If it was British Gas (rather than National Grid who own most if not all of the old gas meters) then chances are you've been borged. British Gas are the most enthusiastic supplier about smart meters - they are years ahead of all other energy suppliers in terms of smart meter roll out, and I'd be staggered if they were fitting non-smart digital meters (in fact I think that their supply licence prevents them replacing a dumb meter with a dumb meter). They have a deal with Landis & Gyr (who hope to supply the majority of the 16m BG will need) although I'd guess that they could fit other makes to avoid excessive dependence on L&G.
For a gas meter, open the cupboard and see what they've left behind. If it is a Landis & Gyr G370 it is certainly a full fat SMETS2 compliant smart meter. If it is any other G300 series then that becomes "almost certainly". For electricity you're looking to see if they've fitted a Landis & Gyr E470 - that's a smart meter. Search on those terms to find pictures if need be, but I'd bet you've been "upgraded". Some interesting (if slightly dated) discussion here:http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/node/2820
Interestingly, if you have, but don't want smart meters, then it would seem that BG will be in breach of their licence condition 35.2, para c, subsections i and ii, which require that the supplier provides information that is accurate and not misleading. Although if energy suppliers mis-sell you a lightbulb, the bureaucrats at OFGEM will hound them to the seventh circle of hell, in this case OFGEM are utterly complicit in the Great British Smart Meter Scandal, so don't expect anything to be done about it (although if you can get as far as the Energy Ombudsman and they take up a complaint then they'll charge BG about £400 just for handling the complaint).
Now, if you've got a spy in the cupboard, then what does that mean? In theory, if it is in dumb mode, you've elected not to share your data with British Gas. When the time comes, they will "enrol" it to the Data Collection Company (part of DECC's byzantine infrastructure intended to make the simple complex), your refusal to share with the supplier still stands, but I don't think you have that choice with DCC (run by Crapita). Government will have their sweaty, incompetent mits on your data from that day, and the meter will still have all the unwelcome remote control and monitoring possibilities.