The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change (Greg
Hands) The Government recognise that this is a deeply worrying time
for households and businesses, as we see renewed highs in energy
prices. These are of course largely a result of Vladimir Putin’s
illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine, as we discussed at the
G20 meeting of Energy Ministers on Friday. The surge in the global
wholesale price of gas meant that Ofgem announced on 26 August that
the default...Request free trial
The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change ()
The Government recognise that this is a deeply worrying time for
households and businesses, as we see renewed highs in energy
prices. These are of course largely a result of Vladimir Putin’s
illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine, as we discussed at the
G20 meeting of Energy Ministers on Friday. The surge in the
global wholesale price of gas meant that Ofgem announced on 26
August that the default tariff cap level from 1 October will rise
to £3,549 for a typical household paying by direct debit. This
represents around a £1,600 per year increase on the current
level, and around a £2,300 per year increase on last winter’s
level. We see no reason to believe that gas prices will fall any
time soon; prices will continue to be driven by geopolitical
instability, with energy bills likely to remain high for some
time to come.
The future outlook is uncertain, but we know that we need to
support UK energy consumers to manage the impacts in both the
short and longer term. That is why the Government have taken
decisive action, including introducing a £37 billion package of
support, which is targeted at those who are most in need of
support. This includes a £11.7 billion energy bill support
scheme, which is worth up to £400 for around 29 million
households. In addition, targeted support includes more than 8
million households on means-tested benefits receiving a payment
of £650. Over 8 million pensioner households that receive the
winter fuel payment will also receive a £300 cost of living
payment. Six million households that receive disability support
will receive a £150 disability cost of living payment, and there
is a £144 million discretionary fund for local authorities to
distribute to those identified as being in need.
The Government are also focused on delivering a programme of work
to tackle energy efficiency in order to target longer-term energy
bill reductions. We are investing £6.6 billion in energy
efficiency and heat decarbonisation over this Parliament. We will
deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years
through our social housing decarbonisation fund, home upgrade
grant schemes and energy company obligation scheme, delivering
additional average bill savings of £300.
We must continue to decarbonise, reducing our dependency on
expensive, imported fossil fuels and bolstering our energy
security through clean, home-grown energy. A net zero economy is
not just critical to tackling climate change; it is also in our
strategic interest as a means to reducing our reliance on global
energy markets. That is why the Government’s British energy
security strategy, published in April, set out a series of bold
commitments, which put Great Britain at the leading edge of the
global energy revolution.
The Government are delivering on this, for example, in our latest
renewables auction, awarding contracts for difference to a record
93 new renewable energy projects, which will total almost 11 GW
of new generating capacity for Great Britain—enough to generate
sufficient electricity to power around 12 million homes. The UK
is already a world leader in offshore wind, with the biggest
installed capacity in Europe, generating 12.7 GW of electricity,
enough to power around 10 million homes. We are continuing to
increase this with another 6.8 GW in construction and a further 7
GW in preparation. We are increasing our nuclear ambition with
the construction of Hinkley Point C and Government investment
into Sizewell C, both of which could power 6 million homes. We
are also launching Great British Nuclear, a body tasked with
developing a resilient pipeline of new build nuclear projects. We
have launched a major review into Britain’s electricity market
design, to radically enhance energy security, and to help deliver
our world-leading climate targets, while reducing exposure to
international gas markets.
We have facilitated the uptake of new products and services such
as time of use tariffs, which reward consumers financially for
using energy when demand is low or when excess clean electricity
is available—for example, on sunny or windy days and nights. The
Government also recognise the impact that rising energy prices
will have on businesses of all sizes. We are in regular contact
with business groups and suppliers, to understand the challenges
they face, and explore ways to protect consumers and
businesses.
We are determined to secure a competitive future for our
energy-intensive industries, which are, of course, most
vulnerable to energy price rises. We have therefore extended the
energy-intensive industries compensation scheme for three years,
and are considering further measures to support businesses,
including increasing the renewable obligation exemption to
100%.
However, this Government recognise that we need to go further
still. These measures were brought forward when estimated annual
energy costs were expected to rise to £2,800. It is now clear
that we are looking at a challenge on a greater scale. The
Government are working closely with Ofgem and other stakeholders
to ensure that consumers and businesses are protected from the
volatile energy prices this winter and beyond. I know that
tackling this issue will be at the top of the incoming Prime
Minister’s inbox, as we look to address both the short-term
shocks and longer-terms needs of the UK energy system.
When it comes to energy security, this Government have an
excellent record. When it comes to energy prices, we will once
again be rising to the challenge of ensuring that British
consumers and businesses are given the support that they need for
this winter. I commend this statement to the House.
5.43pm
(Southampton, Test)
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for his statement and for the brief advance
notice that we had.
I think that we can all agree that this is a statement of
astonishing vagueness and complacency. I had, for example,
anticipated that the Minister might have a bit more urgency on
the consequences of Russia’s decision to cut off Nord Stream 1
today, and the effects that that will have on gas prices. I
thought that he might have come to the House to tell us about
that. We are closely tied to European markets. Does he accept
that this announcement today puts an even greater sense of
urgency on the need to protect the price of gas from outside the
UK, both for businesses and for domestic customers, and what
measures are the Government undertaking to make that happen?
For domestic customers, there is certainly an energy bill crisis
in this country. We need urgent action now.
The Minister talked about funding for the last round of price cap
increases, not the one we have now. I know that we have a new
Government coming in, but we have heard nothing from the Minister
or the Prime Minister about what the plans might be. In fact, all
we have heard from the new Prime Minister is that there will be
an announcement, but nothing about what the announcement might
be. A clear and obvious announcement already exists, however:
Labour’s fully funded plan to freeze energy bills this winter,
paid for by a further windfall tax on the oil and gas giants
making record profits on the back of the energy crisis.
The Minister has an opportunity today to put flesh on the bones
of any announcement. He should tell us whether he thinks that the
Government should freeze energy prices. Also, does he think that
the Government should implement the further windfall tax on the
oil and gas giants, and if not why not—and if not, does he want
just to protect the profits of the oil and gas industry as a
whole?
As well as short-term support for households, we need a long-term
answer to this crisis. We on the Opposition side of the House are
clear that the best way out of a fossil fuel crisis is to get off
fossil fuels. That is why Labour has called for a national clean
energy sprint for renewables and a national home insulation plan.
The Minister mentioned home insulation and talked about the
Government’s existing schemes, but he knows that, in relation to
real need, they do not touch the sides. Does he recognise that we
urgently need a national warm homes programme to insulate 19
million homes, and is he prepared to commit to that today at the
Dispatch Box?
On future energy, the Government could fix many of the problems
we face if they decoupled the price of electricity from that of
gas. The Minister said in his statement that there is a very
leisurely process of consultation and discussion, which I see
from the discussion document “Review of Energy Market
Arrangements” would not be enacted until 2025. Does he accept
that that is a ridiculously long timescale for an urgent change
we need now? Is he prepared to commit to decoupling the price of
electricity from the price of gas now, particularly given the
weight that renewables now have in the market? The Minister
talked about offshore wind, but why has he not removed the
Government’s ludicrous ban on onshore wind, and does he intend
even at this late stage to decide it is time we actually did
that?
Finally, the incoming Prime Minister is obviously a fan of
fracking, but the Minister told the House on 15 March:
“We are clear that shale gas is not the solution to near-term
issues. It would take years of exploration and development before
commercial quantities of shale gas could be produced.”—[Official
Report, 15 March 2022; Vol. 710, c. 761.]
Does he stand by that statement and will he be communicating this
view to the new Prime Minister?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his engagement, as ever. Let me
try to deal with each of his points in turn.
First, on the Russian decision to cut off—or, as they put it,
repair—Nord Stream 1, it is worth reminding ourselves that we are
not dependent on gas from Russia, as the hon. Gentleman knows.
Last year less than 4% of our gas came from Russia, and this year
there have been no deliveries of gas from Russia since March—50%
of our gas is domestic, and 30% is from Norway. He is right that
this has an impact on prices, however, and that is being
discussed at the moment and I would expect to hear more from the
new Prime Minister and her team in the coming days, as he well
knows.
The hon. Gentleman asked about any future windfall tax. Again, I
do not want to speculate on what might happen, but I will say
what happened when Labour last proposed a windfall tax. The
measure that we introduced—the energy profits levy—is projected
to raise twice what Labour’s proposal for a similar move would
have raised at the time, and it has led to greater support for
the most vulnerable customers. Labour’s proposals would have
raised about £600, but the Government’s proposals raised twice
that amount—about £1,200 for the most vulnerable households—and,
as I said in the statement, there will be more to come on
this.
The hon. Gentleman asked a very reasonable question about
decoupling the electricity price from the gas price. Of course,
this is one of the measures being looked at in REMA, as he
rightly pointed out, and it will also be something of active
interest for the Government. He asked about onshore wind, and he
will know that the local partnerships scheme announced in the
British energy security strategy in April has exactly mapped out
how we see the changes in the onshore wind regime in England.
There is no change as yet in Government policy on fracking, but
that will obviously be a matter for the soon-to-be new Prime
Minister.
Overall, the Opposition seem to make three central points: the
Government failed to invest in renewables; the Government failed
to invest in nuclear; and the Government failed to invest in
energy efficiency. They are wrong on all three. On renewables,
under this Government we have quintupled the percentage of
electricity generated from renewables, from 7% of our electricity
mix when they were in power to 40% in 2021, which is a very
strong achievement. On nuclear, the Labour party’s 1997 manifesto
said there was
“no economic case for the building of any new nuclear power
stations”
in Britain. Twenty-five years later, we have reversed that. We
are building Hinkley Point C, and on Friday the Prime Minister
was at Sizewell C announcing his support for that power station.
On energy efficiency, we have actually increased the percentage
of homes that reach the band C level of energy efficiency: we
have trebled that from 14% of our homes in 2010 to a strong 46%
today. When it comes to matters relating to energy—prices,
taxation and energy security—this Government will take no lessons
from the Opposition.
(New Forest West) (Con)
The Minister said that the rise in price was a result of the
attack on Ukraine. It is much more than that: it is a deliberate
part of the attack on Ukraine. Is not the essential ingredient of
any scheme that the Government bring forward that it encourages
customers to reduce their consumption?
My right hon. Friend of course makes a very strong point about
Russia’s deliberate weaponisation of energy in this conflict,
which we wholly deplore and our international partners also very
strongly deplore. On our energy use, my job is to make sure that
we have the energy supply that this country needs, and I am
confident in our energy supply and the energy security measures
we already have in place.
Mr Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
The only aspect of this rehashed statement to welcome is the
acknowledgment from the Minister that the current proposals are
insufficient to avoid a catastrophe. What we should be getting
today is a proper updated statement on energy security and a net
zero update that would reflect additional investment in
renewables such as pumped storage hydro, Peterhead carbon capture
and storage, what is happening with the Rough gas storage
facility, the decoupling of renewables from gas, and grid
upgrades.
The reality at the moment is that 6.5 million households are in
fuel poverty, and if the energy cap increase goes ahead as
planned, then 9 million households will be in fuel poverty. What
is the Minister’s red line for the acceptable number of
households that will be left in fuel poverty? What does he say to
the businesses that have had no support to date? Does he agree
with Make UK, which says that 60% of manufacturing businesses are
now at risk? What assessment has he made of the impact on
agriculture and the food and drink industry, and does he agree
that the tax cuts proposed by the incoming Prime Minister will
adversely help the rich and do nothing for the lowest-paid
workers? The incoming Prime Minister has talked of scrapping the
green levy. Has he explained to the incoming Prime Minister that
there is no single green levy, and that doing so would not
actually be a solution for reducing household bills?
On nuclear, will the Minister confirm that Hinkley Point C is now
nearly 50% over budget and is years late, and that EDF now wants
a delay to the payment start dates? For Sizewell C, will he
confirm that the upper estimate for construction and finance is
£63 billion? That is £63 billion to be added to bill payers’
bills, and it will not actually reduce energy bills in the
future. In 2019, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estimate
for the nuclear clean-up cost was £131 billion. When will we get
an updated figure? Surely that in itself indicates that we need
to end this nuclear folly and madness.
Finally, does the Minister agree that his Government need to
introduce a freeze in the energy cap and urgent support for
businesses, and to review budget allocations to councils and
devolved Governments, so that energy cost pressures on schools,
the NHS, transport and care services can be properly funded
during this time of emergency?
I commend the hon. Gentleman on his ability to squeeze in so many
questions. On additional investment in renewables, the Government
are moving to annual allocation rounds on our renewable options.
That is a strong achievement. The Government have invested a huge
amount in renewables, particularly through the contracts for
difference system, which I would urge him to support. He will
know that we made an announcement recently on where we are with
Centrica and Rough gas storage, and that continues to
proceed.
I remind the hon. Gentleman that fuel poverty is a devolved
matter, so he may wish to have a word with the Scottish
Government, which I have reason to believe he may be close to. He
also mentioned businesses, and I remind him that the cost of
energy for businesses is right at the top of the in-tray of our
new Prime Minister. He mentioned the food and drink sector, and I
am sure that is also the case for that sector. He asked about
tax, and that will be a matter for the Treasury and for future
announcements.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned nuclear budgets, and I am getting a
bit fed up with the SNP’s obsessive anti-nuclear behaviour. It is
exactly that kind of no-saying that got us into the problem of
not having enough nuclear power in this country. Thankfully,
earlier this year the Prime Minister rectified that with the
British energy security strategy, making sure that we get to 24GW
of nuclear power by 2050. As for the cost of Hinkley Point C, the
hon. Gentleman will find that the strike price, which was
negotiated by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, , and by me, as Chief
Secretary to the Treasury, compares very favourably with energy
prices today.
Finally, I think I heard a complaint from the hon. Gentleman
about budget allocations to councils, which was extraordinary,
coming from the SNP. It is the party that has been hammering
council budgets in Scotland, and then expecting them to collect
the rubbish with vastly decreased levels of budgetary
contribution. I again urge him to have a word with his friends in
Edinburgh who are running the Scottish Government, to see whether
they might be able to do something to improve the budget
allocations for Scottish councils.
(Southend West) (Con)
I welcome the Minister’s statement and the support for
individuals and businesses, but may I raise with him the issue of
schools? Southend West is home to 30 excellent schools, and many
heads have been in contact with me, concerned that they will not
be able to pay the utility bills. One has even trailed in the
local press the possibility of opening for only four days a week.
Can he assure me that it is the Government’s priority to make
sure that our children’s education does not suffer as a result of
the energy crisis, as it did as a result of the coronavirus
crisis?
I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. Schools are
certainly at the forefront of our thinking for the coming winter.
She is right that we need to make sure that schools are properly
supported, and there are lessons to be learned from the pandemic
as to how that was done. I am sure that her words will be well
heard by Ministers, HM Treasury and the Department for
Education.
(Barnsley East) (Lab)
A year ago I asked the Government why they had closed the Rough
gas storage facility off the Yorkshire coast, leaving the UK with
just 1.7% of storage for annual demand. The Secretary of State
for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the right hon.
Member for Spelthorne (), told me that the question
was irrelevant, and accused me of inducing panic and stoking
alarm. Given the reports that the Government are to U-turn and
reopen the facility, will the Minister now admit that the closure
was a mistake?
The closure was a commercial decision, made by Centrica, not a
decision made by the Government.
(Rugby) (Con)
The Energy Minister has a well-deserved reputation for getting
things done, and I thank him for the prompt responses he has
given to inquiries that I have made to his office, especially in
respect of businesses. I sense that he understands the
challenges, such as for the small engineering business I visited
last week whose energy bill is £13,000 a year currently, and
which has had a range of quotes between £37,000 and £68,000 for
the renewal of its contract. The staff tell me that means that in
the coming year they may not be able to replace a machine or take
on a couple of apprentices as they would like to do. He has told
us about the details that will be coming on short-term support—I
am sure businesses will welcome that when it arrives—but I wonder
whether he would say a little more about the long-term proposals
to decouple the electricity bills from the gas price.
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He is truly a champion
of businesses in his constituency and across the country; I know
the important work he does on the Select Committee on Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy, for example. He is right, in that
most of the energy of businesses in this country is dealt with
through long-term contracts. That is an advantage in giving
certainty, but when it is time for the long-term contract to be
extended or renewed that can lead to a very concerning rise in
the price of that contract. The Government are keenly aware of
that and it is absolutely something that our new Prime Minister
and the team overall will be looking at.
(Birmingham, Hall Green)
(Lab)
The Minister’s statement was nothing but full of hot air. In the
midst of a cost of living crisis, the worst in living memory,
many of my constituents are struggling to pay their energy bills,
as are others across the country. The words of wisdom from the
outgoing Prime Minister were for people to buy a kettle for £20
and save £10 a year. Does the Minister agree that the Government
are out of touch with struggling families and that the suggestion
of a new kettle is not only insulting, but derisory?
Look, that is not what the Prime Minister said; he did not say
that the answer to the energy crisis was to buy a new kettle. He
used the new kettle to provide an analogy as to how we have dealt
with nuclear power in this country, further to the points I
raised earlier, with the failure to have a long-term view as to
how to save money on energy costs overall. The hon. Gentleman is
wholly misrepresenting what the Prime Minister said—I suspect he
is wilfully misrepresenting it—in his speech on Friday.
(Chatham and Aylesford)
(Con)
Pubs, grassroots sports clubs and an indoor play centre are
examples from the local hospitality and leisure sector that have
been in touch with me in the past few weeks to highlight the
astronomical price rises they are expecting, putting their
businesses in a perilous situation. These sectors are often an
afterthought for Government support, yet their importance in our
communities should not be underestimated. So will the Minister
place on the record that this Government recognise the value of
the hospitality, leisure and indoor play sectors, and that they
will be given the support they need to survive the winter?
I thank my hon. Friend, an extremely well-regarded former Sports
Minister, for her commitment to the sector. She is right to say
that pubs, the hospitality sector in general, sports facilities
and outdoor play facilities are vital parts of the social and
economic fabric of this country. The Government are keenly aware
of the importance of the impact of rising energy prices on
businesses, and, as I have said, I am sure this is right at the
top of the new Prime Minister’s in-tray as we go forward.
(Brighton, Pavilion)
(Green)
Last Wednesday, the Business Secretary tweeted his winter energy
security update, a plan that fails even to mention energy
efficiency, despite the BEIS Committee, the CBI and charities all
calling for immediate action on insulation to keep homes warm and
to cut bills. The Minister did at least mention efficiency in his
statement, but there is still no sense of urgency and no plan at
the scale required. We need a retrofit revolution. Why are the
Government not tackling demand-side measures with far more
urgency? Will he finally get on with a local authority-led,
street-by-street home insulation programme?
On energy-efficiency, the Government have extensive programmes in
place, which I outlined in the statement. We have £6.6 billion
going in over the course of this Parliament. It is important to
recognise not only the amount of money going in, but the results
we have had. In the 12 years of this Government, the percentage
of homes rated A to C for energy efficiency has increased from
14% to 46%, which is a trebling of the amount of homes rated
energy-efficient. Of course there is further to go, because 54%
are insufficiently energy-efficient. A lot of work is still to be
done, but the trebling of the number of homes well rated for
energy efficiency is a real achievement of this Government.
(Dudley South) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for visiting my constituency to meet
industrial energy users. It is good that the energy-intensive
industries compensation scheme is being extended, but firms in
many sectors, such as engineering, glassmaking, ceramics or
hospitality, do not qualify for the scheme despite relying on
large amounts of energy for their core business, with many facing
bill increases of 500%, 600% or 700%. What can be done to help
them survive and to protect the jobs that my constituents rely
on?
I had a helpful and productive day in August, partly spent in my
hon. Friend’s constituency, and he and I ran a session for
industrial energy users with , the brilliant Mayor of the
West Midlands Combined Authority. It is important to recognise
that many businesses in this country are not in classic
energy-intensive industries and therefore do not qualify as such,
but are nevertheless big users of energy. We need to ensure that
support is available so that such businesses can get through this
coming winter. That is exactly the opinion that I have reflected
within Government as we move forward.
(Bradford West) (Lab)
According to Electric Radiators Direct, Bradford ranks highest in
the country for the difference between average resident income
and average yearly energy bill. Friends of the Earth claims that
52% of neighbourhoods in Bradford are among the worst affected
across England and Wales.
Everybody in the country knows and we in this House know that the
energy profits levy is in fact a windfall tax—a Labour idea. We
have another suggestion for the Minister: freeze energy prices.
The Government can name it what they want. We have the ideas, and
we are handing them over. What is stopping the Minister freezing
energy bills?
I am not quite sure about Labour’s position. On the one hand, it
says that we copied its windfall tax proposal, but it also says
that what we have done is somehow inadequate. The energy profits
levy is projected to raise twice what Labour’s proposal was ever
projected to generate.
When it comes to Bradford, that is exactly why we are ensuring
that the assistance is as targeted as possible and goes to the
most vulnerable and in-need households. That is why we have
offered the one-off payment of £650 to more than 8 million
households on means-tested benefits, the cost of living payment
to 8 million pensioner households, and the £150 disability cost
of living payment to 6 million households. In addition, we have
the £144 million discretionary local authority fund for
distribution to those identified as being in need. A huge amount
of Government action has already taken place, and more is to
come.
(Blackpool South) (Con)
My right hon. Friend will be aware of Blackpool residents’ strong
objections to fracking, which has already been explored at the
Preston New Road site a few miles outside my constituency.
Fracking should take place only where it is supported by local
communities and only if people can feel the benefit directly in
their pockets. Does he agree that a few thousand pounds off
energy bills would be quite an inducement for people living close
to a fracking site?
My hon. Friend, as ever, makes a telling contribution on
Blackpool’s behalf that I am sure the Government will study
closely. We are also studying the British Geological Survey
report into this matter, to which the Government will respond in
due course. Over the past year that I have been Energy Minister,
I have heard my hon. Friend stick up for and make a strong case
for Blackpool on several occasions in relation to fracking.
(Lewisham West and Penge)
(Lab)
Lewisham Council’s energy bill has already doubled from £7
million to £14 million a year, with bills set to go up further.
But instead of setting out a plan of support, the Tories have
spent this summer fighting among themselves and have even claimed
that rising costs should be found from existing public sector
budgets—budgets that have already been decimated over the last 12
years. We need serious leadership and a plan now, so will the
Minister commit that, in any emergency Budget, public services
will be properly supported with rising energy costs?
Public services have always been well supported by this
Government throughout the 12 years that we have been in power.
When it comes to future taxation, that is, of course, a matter
for the Treasury and the Prime Minister.
(Redcar) (Con)
I am grateful to the Minister for his answers on support for
energy-intensive industries such as those in my area. He knows
that Teesside is the centre of the green industrial revolution in
the UK, with our nuclear power station at Hartlepool, wind power
manufacturing on both the north and the south side of the river,
and large-scale carbon capture, utilisation and storage and
hydrogen production in Redcar and Cleveland. As well as looking
at new measures to increase such supply, we must tackle demand.
Does he agree that we should invest further in energy efficiency
and retrofitting homes, as many families could save hundreds of
pounds on their energy bills by simply insulating their homes
properly?
My hon. Friend is always a strong voice for Redcar and Teesside.
I think that every single question he has ever asked me has
included hydrogen somewhere. He is auditioning, I think, to be
the UK’s Mr Hydrogen. He has mentioned CCUS as well, which is a
big priority of ours, and he is absolutely right to say that
energy efficiency is so important. If we can reduce the amount of
energy that is used to create the same level of heating in
people’s homes, clearly that is a massive gain. That is why we
have invested £6.6 billion over the course of this Parliament in
energy efficiency.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
The annual energy costs of a bar on my patch in Shoreditch—it is
part of a large chain—have gone up from £30,000 last year to
£120,000 this year. All energy contracts are now being
renegotiated, with some experiencing an uplift of at least 300%,
and since the pandemic some electricity suppliers are refusing to
supply the hospitality sector. The Minister has given warm words,
but there are two issues there. Will he give us comfort that he
will act on at least one of them by talking to the energy
suppliers about making sure that more of them can at least
compete for the business of these important hospitality
businesses?
As ever, the hon. Lady raises an important and telling point. It
is worth reminding ourselves, as I said earlier, that businesses
tend to have long-term contracts for their energy bills. Prices
were lower but they are now rising. There is an advantage in
being locked into lower prices for a longer term, but there is,
of course, a disadvantage when that long-term contract rolls off
and they have to replace it. She is quite right about that. I am
happy to look into the specifics of the bar that she mentions.
There is no obligation currently on energy suppliers to supply
businesses, unlike their obligation to provide to consumers, but
I am happy to look into the specifics of the bar that she
mentions in her constituency.
(Devizes) (Con)
There is clearly consensus across the House about the need to
decouple the price of electricity from the cost of gas. I very
much welcome the Minister’s remarks that that is being actively
looked at in government. May I encourage him to go a little
further, given that we are in this little moment of an
interregnum, exploit his licence and tell us what might be the
obstacles to doing that quickly and, if we wanted to do it, how
fast it could be done?
My hon. Friend invites me to go down a road of policy
speculation. What I will say is that many markets and many
countries are looking at this specific issue. There are various
proposals out there. We are looking carefully at this issue
domestically, and we are also looking to see what other
countries, other markets and other jurisdictions are doing in
this space.
(Glasgow Central)
(SNP)
I met a range of organisations during the recess. Most recently,
I met David Findlater, the managing director of Calder
Millerfield in Dalmarnock, which has been making bakery and
butchery products in the area and employing local people for over
60 years, supplying supermarkets and fast food establishments.
Its annual prices have gone up from £160,000 for electricity and
£30,000 for gas to £712,000 for electricity and £80,000 for gas.
It does not know how it will keep going as a business and meet
those bills. It wants to hear urgently from this Government that
help is coming. Will the Minister give it that assurance?
I thank the hon. Member for her question. I share, and I think we
all share, the concern about the rising prices facing not just
consumers, but businesses up and down the UK. The Government are
keenly aware of the issue, as I said; it is right at the top of
what the Prime Minister will be looking to do, and I am sure that
announcements will be forthcoming.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
I listened to Edwina Currie this morning telling people to put
foil down the back of their radiators to improve energy
efficiency. She seemed to miss the point that many of my
constituents are not even thinking of switching their radiators
on in the first place. I just wonder about those in the
left-behind neighbourhoods—the very poorest. In my patch, in
Orchard Park, 29% of households are in fuel poverty before we
even start, against the national average of 13%. What will the
Minister do for those people on Orchard Park who are not able to
switch their radiators on this winter?
Obviously, we are very concerned to make sure that consumers are
supported through the coming winter. That is absolutely at the
heart of the existing Government’s policy, and I am sure it will
be part of the incoming Prime Minister’s policies as well.
I ask the hon. Member to tell her constituents to have a look at
what the Government have already done—the £39 billion-worth that
we have already announced this year, not all of which has taken
effect yet. For example, the £400 payment for 29 million
households has not yet actually come in. I urge the hon. Member
to relay to her constituents that the Government are on their
side, have already committed large amounts of public funds to
this and, I am sure, will be committing more in the coming
months.
(East Antrim) (DUP)
I thank the Minister, his officials and Treasury Ministers and
officials for ensuring that the discount on electricity bills
will be paid directly to consumers in Northern Ireland rather
than having to go through the Assembly and the Departments, which
quite frankly would not have been capable of administering
it.
I am disappointed, however, that in the Minister’s statement
today there was no mention of exploiting the resources that we
have on our doorstep, namely the abundant supply of gas in the
north-east of England, which could give a very quick supply of
additional gas to the UK network. Is he not concerned that his
increasing dependence on renewables—for which much of the
infrastructure is dependent on the supply of rare earth metals,
60% of which are controlled by China—will leave us as dependent
on China in future as Europe is on Russia today?
I have a more immediate question. The Minister has announced 93
contracts for difference. How will he ensure that the companies
that get those contracts will not simply—as they are doing at
present—refuse to activate them and sell electricity as if it
were generated by the most expensive gas?
I thank the right hon. Member for that list of important
questions. He will know that the new taskforce has already
started meeting to extend the energy bill support scheme, or
provisions thereof, to Northern Ireland; that is welcome
news.
I think the right hon. Member said that fracking would lead to
quick supplies. I am not as convinced that he is that it would be
quick, but as I said, we will be responding to the British
Geological Survey in due course.
On dependence on renewables, the right hon. Member is right that
a number of elements used in creating renewable energy resources
are dependent on critical minerals, but that is exactly one of
the reasons why the Government have recently launched the
critical minerals strategy. We will be talking to all our
international partners, as I do, about critical minerals and
making sure that we have a diversity of sources of supply for
them going forward.
(Eltham) (Lab)
I do not get any sense of urgency from the Minister about the
plight of businesses negotiating energy contracts. I have been
contacted by a family-run independent craft bakery that is about
to celebrate its centenary and has been run by six generations of
the same family. It employs 20 people in my constituency, but is
facing at least a 300% increase in the energy costs in its
contracts. We cannot leave businesses in that situation hanging.
We have no date yet for the Government to come forward with a set
of proposals. When will those businesses have some idea what
support they will get from this Government? Businesses in that
situation are just not going to survive for very long.
Let us be absolutely clear: the new Prime Minister has said that
there will be announcements very shortly on the support that will
be there. The hon. Gentleman throws his hands up in the air, but
he was first elected, if I am not mistaken, under the last Labour
Government. When it comes to acting quickly, it took that Labour
Government more than 10 years to reverse their policy on nuclear
energy, so perhaps he might like to reflect on how quickly
Governments can move, and see that this Government have moved
incredibly fast to react to changing circumstances on both energy
prices and energy supply.
(Bath) (LD)
To continue the theme, small businesses will be among the worst
hit by the soaring energy bills. Bath Aqua Glass is one of many
businesses in my constituency that have told me their energy bill
will go up 10 times—not 10%, but 10 times. The company’s bill
will go from £14,000 to £130,000. The whole energy sector is
completely out of control. We Liberal Democrats have called for
emergency covid-style support for small businesses. What are the
Government doing, not just in the short term to support small
businesses, but in the long term to fix the broken energy
sector?
I have already said that this is a priority for the new Prime
Minister, and I would expect there to be announcements shortly on
what is being done. Businesses are the core of our concern here
in relation to energy prices. There is of course no energy price
cap for businesses, and we recognise the challenges that
businesses—particularly small and medium-sized enterprises that
do not qualify as energy-intensive industries but nevertheless
use a lot of energy—face at this time. That is exactly the sort
of thing the Government are actively looking at.
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
On Friday, I visited a pub called the Ring ‘O’ Bells in the
Frodsham area of my constituency. I spoke to Phil, the landlord,
whose projected bills are going up by several thousand pounds per
month. Then I went along to the Devonshire Bakery, a family
business that has been operating in my constituency for a
considerable number of years, and which is facing a 400% rise in
its energy bills. I say to the Minister that we need now to
urgently step up and support businesses, not only in my
constituency, but up and down the country, and we certainly need
to hear that urgently from the new Prime Minister.
I have already said that I think we will be hearing very soon
from the new Prime Minister and her team, but the hon. Gentleman
could say to Phil the landlord that this Government has had an
excellent track record, when it comes to the pandemic, of
providing support for businesses. I think that has been
universally acknowledged as being an extremely strong element of
support—£40 billion overall for businesses over the pandemic—and,
if I were the hon. Gentleman, I would say to Phil, “Judge the
Government on their actions.” There will be more to come, but I
ask him to report to Phil the confidence that he should have in
the Government’s excellent record of supporting businesses
through the pandemic.
(Birkenhead) (Lab)
The incoming Prime Minister has promised to deliver a plan to
address the energy price crisis and is now thought to be
considering freezing energy bills. In my Birkenhead constituency,
however, people are already struggling to pay their bills, with
many fearing that they will be plunged into destitution this
winter. Does the Minister agree that urgent action is needed to
cut energy costs now and that no option should be off the table
in tackling this crisis, including renationalisation, which has
allowed the French Government to cap rises at 4% while bills in
the UK have risen by 54% already this year?
The French analogy is a bit of a misnomer, and the hon. Gentleman
and I probably disagree on it. I think he is celebrating the
nationalisation of the French energy industry, but I am not sure
that is a good answer either for this country or for others. He
says that further action is needed, and that is what I have
pledged at this Dispatch Box. I ask him to look at the amount of
money—£37 billion—that this Government have already put in to
assist consumers with energy bills; I think it compares
favourably with other European countries, up until the previous
rise in prices.
(Aberdeen South) (SNP)
In Scotland, we produce six times as much gas as we consume, yet
the energy price cap has already increased by 40%. In Scotland,
gas accounts for just 14.4% of electricity production, yet the
energy price cap is about to increase by a further 80%. In
Scotland, our annual electricity production comes almost entirely
from renewables, yet households and businesses are being
crippled. Surely even the Minister must accept this blatant
failure of UK energy policy. Is it not time we recognised that
Scotland does not just have the energy; we badly need the
power?
The hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear that I strongly
disagree. When it comes to energy, it is the UK Government’s
reserved energy policy that is working well for the people of
Scotland. Had we followed the SNP’s energy policy of being
against both nuclear and Scottish oil and gas, we would be in a
terrible position and would probably be dependent on the good
will of Vladimir Putin.
(Wythenshawe and Sale East)
(Lab)
Forgive me, Minister, but it is already too late for some
businesses. Alexandros, a very popular restaurant in my
constituency, has announced that it is closing while it assesses
whether it can afford to carry on with a £13,000 increase in its
energy costs. This is going to be brutal for small businesses on
our high streets, isn’t it, Minister, without appropriate
intervention?
I have already said that this is a matter of very active
consideration by the Government and that it is right at the top
of the new Prime Minister’s in tray. I remind the hon. Gentleman
of the amount of support the Government have given businesses
during the pandemic and over other matters recently. We have an
incredibly strong record of supporting businesses, which is one
reason we have such an excellent record on creating jobs and
making sure that, by working with businesses, we have a robust
employment sector in this country.
(Glasgow North East)
(SNP)
Mr Deputy Speaker, if you, I, the Minister or anyone on these
Benches were to stop paying our energy bills, we could be cut off
or disconnected from gas and electricity, but it would take a
long time because the company would have to go through a number
of different procedures and we have rights. Not so those people
on prepayment meters. In the statement, the Minister has talked
repeatedly about those most in need of support. If people are on
prepayment meters, it is almost always because they are on a low
income and need more support. They already pay more than the rest
of us, but all they can do is get into £10 of debt. The minute
they go over that £10 emergency credit, they are disconnected. Is
that fair? If he does not think it is fair, will he join my
campaign to outlaw so-called self-disconnection? If not, are we
to believe that he thinks we deserve better rights than our
constituents who are really struggling financially at the
moment?
The hon. Lady is right to raise the matter of prepayment meters
and prepayment customers. She is, of course, right to raise the
issue of the most vulnerable, which is exactly where the
Government’s overall package is targeted. The £37 billion goes
hugely to disadvantaged people and households.
Ofgem has taken a number of actions on prepayment meters in
recent times. It warned suppliers in June 2018 that prepayment
meters should be installed only as a last resort for debt
collection. It banned forcible installation for vulnerable
customers in 2017. In December 2020, it introduced new licensing
conditions, including an ability-to-pay principle and the
obligation on suppliers to identify self-disconnection and
self-rationing by prepayment meter customers proactively. A
number of measures have been taken by Ofgem. Of course it will
keep these things under review, and I am sure the Government will
look at them as well. If there are more actions the hon. Lady
thinks should be taken, I am happy to hear from her.
(Stockton North) (Lab)
Many industries on Teesside and beyond that are dependent on
natural gas as a feedstock are being ruined. CF Fertilisers has
already ceased ammonia production in Billingham, while a second
major local company told me that a decision could be taken within
weeks unless something comprehensive is done, and it will close.
The company has written to the Prime Minister. I await a response
to my urgent letter to the Business Secretary on Friday, telling
him that hundreds of jobs are at risk at that one company. The
Minister spoke of some support to help energy-intensive
industries, but it is totally inadequate to meet the needs of
industry on Teesside and beyond. Will he please outline what
assistance will be available for non-qualifying energy-intensive
industries? Will he go away again and find another way to help
the balance of industries, or is he prepared to see thousands of
people lose their jobs?
The Government are never prepared to see thousands of people lose
their jobs, which is why we have taken such strong action in the
last few years to make sure that our employment situation remains
as robust as it is. Beyond that, the hon. Gentleman is asking me
to make commitments that will be made by the incoming Prime
Minister. He mentions CF Fertilisers, which is a company that we
are keenly aware of. We have interacted with the company over a
long period of time and will continue to do so.
(St Albans) (LD)
Like many Members of this House, I am receiving desperate
messages not only from individuals, but from hospitals, care
homes, schools and small businesses. The energy bill for one pub
in my constituency, Dylans-The Kings Arms, is due to rise from
£22,000 to £124,000—a sixfold increase, or an increase of
£100,000. One care home in my constituency emailed me today and
said its gas bill alone will have a 15-fold increase, rising from
£40,000 to £600,000. If a pub has no heating, patrons will not
visit. If a care home does not have heating, vulnerable people
become ill and possibly die. The Minister has already indicated
that he does not know when an announcement will be made, but will
he please give us an assurance that straight after this debate he
will go straight to the new Prime Minister and encourage her and
her new Cabinet to make an announcement this week—not just for
individuals and households, but for businesses, care homes and
schools?
I do not think that the hon. Lady will have long to wait. I say
to her that we absolutely share those concerns. All Government
Ministers, at least in the Commons, are obviously constituency
MPs as well, and we have these kinds of cases in our
constituencies, including in my constituency. We are well aware
of the big rises in energy prices being faced by many businesses
at the end of their contract when taking up a new contract.
(Caerphilly) (Lab)
Manufacturing in this country is facing a truly terrible crisis.
For example, OGM Moulding Innovation employs 220 people in
England and Wales, including in my constituency of Caerphilly,
and it faces a massive increase in its energy costs. Unless
something is done urgently, it faces closing three factories. It
does not qualify for special support, because it is not deemed an
energy-intensive company. Nevertheless, it uses a huge amount of
energy. My plea is very simple and straightforward: will the
Government give a commitment that they will come forward in the
next few days with comprehensive packages to help companies such
as OGM Moulding Innovation?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his concern
for his constituency-based business. As I said in answer to the
previous question from the hon. Member for St Albans (), we are all keenly aware of
the difficulties that many businesses are in. On the other
engagement that we have had with the sector, the Secretary of
State has been meeting energy suppliers. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer has heard loud and clear from the Confederation of
British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, Make UK and
others. The Government are of course keenly aware of the
situation, and I do not think the hon. Gentleman will have long
to wait to hear the response.
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
About three hours ago I spoke to Deborah Linton, who is the
operations director of Dentec Hillington, which is a body repair
shop just off London Road in my constituency. Its energy bills
alone will rise by £54,000 this year, and the message that she
wanted me to bring to the Minister is that businesses need action
and need it now. I have a simple question for the Minister: will
the Government have announced action when I visit the company on
Friday?
The hon. Gentleman is inviting me to speculate on the date of
future Government announcements, which I am not able to do, but I
will say that I do not think he will have long to wait.
(Oldham East and
Saddleworth) (Lab)
The issue around energy costs for businesses was a key priority
for businesses I met in July. We know that business insolvencies
are at a 60-year high at the moment. I am also getting a lot of
feedback on the doorstep, when I meet constituents, who are
concerned about how they will manage with the forthcoming energy
price increase. We know that the new Prime Minister is not keen
on handouts, but if there is not a reasonable offer from the new
Prime Minister, what would be the Minister’s assessment of the
increase in debt, homelessness and insolvencies and, as a
consequence of all that, the increase in excess deaths?
I thank the hon. Lady for that question. I have already said how
well aware we all are of the increase in costs for businesses,
but I think she paints an unhappy picture that goes beyond the
reality of what businesses are facing in this country. If we
consider the amount of support that the Government gave during
the pandemic, and the level of employment in this country,
including a record high in payroll employment, we see some really
good economic figures coming out of that. Of course, we recognise
that businesses are facing those big increases in energy costs,
which is why I expect announcements to be forthcoming quite
soon.
(North Down) (Alliance)
I am grateful to the Minister for his update on the £400 payment
to households in Northern Ireland. Of course, if we had had an
Executive going back as far as February, we could have done that
ourselves. As he knows, the Northern Ireland energy market and
system is very different from that in Great Britain, so in the
event that the next phase of Government support has large
elements that apply only to Great Britain, but with large Barnett
consequentials for Northern Ireland, what contingency steps are
the Government taking to ensure that, in the absence of a
functioning devolved Executive, businesses and households in
Northern Ireland have the same access to support as their
counterparts in Great Britain?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer convened the Northern Ireland
taskforce with the specific objective of making sure that
Northern Ireland does not miss out on UK Government support for
consumers and businesses in future. I cannot give the hon.
Gentleman more of an update than that, but it is a strong area of
Government action to ensure that Northern Ireland, quite
properly, is treated as part of the UK when it comes to all these
matters, including, especially, Her Majesty’s Government support
for consumers and businesses.
(Sheffield Central)
(Lab)
In the Minister’s statement and in many of his answers he has
focused on what the Government have already announced, but does
he recognise that that does not come close to meeting the depth
of the crisis that we now face? Does he accept the need for a
freeze on domestic bills and action to match his words on
businesses? Across my constituency, hundreds of small businesses,
particularly in the hospitality sector, are at risk. Thousands
upon thousands of jobs are threatened without decisive action.
When can we expect it?
The Government have provided enormous levels of support for
exactly those kinds of businesses. The hospitality sector was a
strong recipient of Government support during the pandemic. The
hon. Gentleman is right to point to the £37 billion of support to
consumers so far this year. He will not have to wait long to hear
what the Government will be doing, but I ask him to judge the
Government on their excellent track record in this space—in
supporting businesses, particularly in the last few years. As I
say, he will not have to wait too long to see further
measures.
(Glasgow North) (Ind)
Housing associations that I have spoken to in Glasgow North are,
first and foremost, concerned about the wellbeing of their
tenants who cannot afford to heat their homes this winter, but
leaving the heating off is also bad for the housing stock: damp
and mouldy houses will be bad for future generations and will
cost more to repair in the long run. Does the Minister understand
that as well as a price freeze now, we need a long-term
preventive approach to energy security, efficiency and
insulation?
That is one of the reasons we are investing £6.6 billion over
this Parliament in energy-efficiency measures, which will include
the ECO4—energy company obligation—measures that we debated in
this House in July. We will have to see what energy-efficiency
measures may be forthcoming from the Prime Minister in the coming
days.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
Many of my constituents are already cancelling their contracts
with their gas companies. They are absolutely terrified. Churches
and charities want to step in, but they are exposed to the
commercial rates, with charities often seeing a tenfold increase.
They want to provide warm banks to keep their communities safe,
warm and well fed this winter. What steps are the Government
taking to support charities and churches to ensure they can
provide the warmth their communities need?
The hon. Lady makes a strong point that this is not just about
consumers and businesses; everybody is being affected by the
global rise in energy prices. This is not just a UK phenomenon,
but a worldwide one. If she has cases of charities and others
being unable to take out contracts or cancelling contracts, I
would be happy to look into them with her to find out what is
going on and to ensure that those vital services continue to get
an energy supply.
(Carmarthen East and
Dinefwr) (Ind)
Rising energy prices will disproportionately hit those on the
lowest incomes, while tax cuts will disproportion- ately favour
the highest earners. Considering the scale of the financial
problems about to hit families, with some experts indicating that
energy bills could hit £7,000 per annum by next year unless there
is some firm Government action, social cohesion should be the
cornerstone of Government policy. Would not one way of doing this
be to ensure that the broadest shoulders pay their fair share, by
increasing the burden on higher and additional rate income
taxpayers to support those in need?
The hon. Gentleman is tempting me to go down the road of Her
Majesty’s Treasury announcements on tax and other matters, which
I am afraid I will have to resist doing. I think he will hear
before too long what the Government propose to do on these vital
matters.
(Wirral West) (Lab)
People are really frightened about how they are going to get
through this winter. One of my constituents, who is a widow with
long-term health issues, has written to me to say that she will
have to cancel insurance for her pets—so if her pet becomes ill
she will not be able to take them to the vet—and will get rid of
her car, which is vital for her to get to medical appointments.
She says that her gas and electricity bill was originally about
£85 a month, but she has now received a direct debit statement
saying that it will go up to more than £255 a month; her energy
costs will basically triple. She is terrified about how she will
manage this winter, as are many of my constituents. Will the
Minister give us an assurance that he will impress on the new
Prime Minister the scale of the catastrophe we face if the
Government do not come forward with a major increase in support
for people facing these bills?
I am concerned to hear about the hon. Lady’s constituent. Indeed,
many of all our constituents are facing difficulties and
prospective difficulties at this time. In relation to her
constituent’s car, the Government have reduced fuel duty at the
cost of about £5 billion to the Exchequer, and that will help
people to run their cars. We are acutely aware of the
difficulties faced by consumers, but we have risen to the
challenge. The £37 billion package announced for this year so far
is a considerable amount of public spending to help consumers
with bills, and there will be more to come.
Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)
Many people across rural Scotland depend on heating oil to heat
their homes. Today I spoke to someone who was quoted 110p a
litre, with a minimum delivery of 500 litres. Of course, once
heating oil is gone—when the tank is empty—it is gone. If people
cannot afford to refill the tank, they cannot heat their house.
With winter approaching, that is a potential death sentence for
vulnerable people in an already economically fragile part of
Scotland. What will the Government do to help those people, and
what reassurances can the Minister give to those who rely on
heating oil that they will be protected from skyrocketing fuel
prices this winter?
I thank the hon. Member for that question because many consumers,
up and down this United Kingdom, are dependent on heating oil.
They are off the gas grid and heating oil is the principle means
of heating their home. We need to be keenly aware of that, as the
Government are.
It is worth recognising that there is a competitive market for
heating oil. I often speak with the UK and Ireland Fuel
Distributors Association, which is a trade body, and with
consumer groups in relation to heating oil. Obviously, prices
have risen; they are closely related to the price of kerosene,
for example, which has been quite volatile this year.
I remind the hon. Gentleman that households that have an
electricity charging point will benefit from the £400 payment,
and others will benefit from the payments to the more vulnerable,
so it would not be right to suggest that those who use heating
oil are not recipients of Government assistance. There is also
the £1.1 billion home upgrade grant, through which the Government
have committed to improve funding for energy efficiency and clean
heating upgrades for those dependent on heating oil and other
liquid fuels.
(Brighton, Kemptown)
(Lab/Co-op)
Some 60% to 70% of our energy is domestically produced. The price
of producing it has not increased at all, so 60% to 70% of the
bill increase is theft by the energy companies charging
international rates to domestic companies. It is time we had
wholesale market reform, to ensure that domestically produced
energy is sold at production prices and not inflated prices for
fat cats in the City.
May I ask the Minister specifically about the £144 million
discretionary fund? Many of my constituents are use remeterage,
whereby their landlords have a commercial contract but they are
remetered at a higher price and are ineligible for any support.
Will the Minister write to councils to confirm that they must
offer parity for those people, if they can show they use
remeterage and therefore are not eligible for the £400
support?
I might have to write to the hon. Member on the question of
remeterage. The £144 million discretionary fund is supposed to be
disbursed at the discretion of local authorities, in the right
way. I think his question is more about heat networks. In the
British energy security strategy, we announced that heat networks
will in future be regulated by Ofgem—I say that on the assumption
that he supports the Energy Security Bill that is making its
passage through Parliament at the moment.
The hon. Gentleman’s point that somehow the UK can declare some
kind of unilateral declaration of independence from global energy
prices is, I am afraid, simply fanciful. Even Norway, which is
one of the world’s biggest domestic producers and almost
certainly the largest surplus energy producer in the world, is
facing these same challenges of rising domestic energy prices. It
is simply not possible for the UK to isolate itself from these
global trends. [Interruption.]
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
Order. I call .
(North Ayrshire and Arran)
(SNP)
The energy price cap is set to double. Businesses have received
no support with energy costs, households have simply not received
enough and those in park homes have been completely ignored so
far. On top of that, the cost of supplier failures means that the
poorest, who use less energy, will continue to be
disproportionately impacted by punishing standing charges. Today
the Minister has said nothing about any of these issues, because
today’s statement is about a zombie Government giving the
illusion of activity. When will we see urgent and decisive action
to tackle this increasingly painful and in some cases
life-threatening crisis for businesses and households on the
brink?
There is a lot in that question. The hon. Lady raised a new
issue, not raised in these questions so far—the issue of park
homes. That is a serious concern, because around 1% of households
in this country are not reached by the current £400 scheme,
although they are being reached by other schemes. We have said
clearly that we will announce measures to assist those living in
park homes, houseboats and so on, which are not covered because
they do not have a meter point. There will be a scheme announced
this autumn to help them, with funding attached, as part of an
additional scheme.
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
Like many Members, I already have a great number of distressed
constituents getting in touch with me desperate for some sort of
help. Today, though, I want to focus my comments more
specifically on businesses, which we have been hearing about from
Members around the Chamber. Last Thursday I met with farmers, who
might be readily overlooked; it is essential that all sectors
across our economy are considered. They have to keep their grain
at a certain temperature, for example, to make sure that it is
not affected by moisture and so on. I ask the Minister to ensure
that all categories of businesses—care homes, farmers and so
on—are considered. Specifically, I spoke to pub owners at a
roundtable meeting last Friday. There were seven of them.
Frankie, Phil, Ricky and Jake joined me. Several of them will be
out of business in three weeks when their contracts end. I ask
the Minister to implore the Prime Minister to act with absolute
urgency on this issue.
On farming, we are interacting regularly with the National
Farmers Union, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru, the Farmers’ Union of
Wales and the Ulster Farmers Union to make sure that the voice of
farming is heard loud and clear within this Government, including
on energy prices. When it comes to wider announcements, as I have
already said, I do not think that the hon. Gentleman will have
too long to wait.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Like others, I
want to make my point on this. On Sunday, just yesterday, one of
my constituents closed his family shop, café and restaurant that
he had owned for a number of years. It was a family enterprise
that employed some 68 people. He said that he had spent much of
his life in the village in which he had grown up, but he said
that energy costs were so high that he could not continue to
trade there. That is a fact of life. It is also a fact of life
for butchers’ shops, and I wish to make a plea for them. I have
spoken to three butchers in the past 10 days. One of them said
that his energy costs will go from £1,850 to £4,000. The contract
runs out in September. A second one said that his electric costs
will go from £2,350 to £4,500. His contract runs out in October.
The third one says that his costs will go from £3,000 to £6,000.
Refrigeration is important to them. The costs are already high,
and they say that they will not stop there. I just ask the
Secretary: what can we do for those people?
I hear the hon. Gentleman loud and clear. Northern Ireland is
very much at the forefront of our discussions and our
considerations. As I said in answer to an earlier question, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer launched a new taskforce in relation
to Northern Ireland, recognising its difficult position of not
having a Northern Ireland Executive and also recognising that
electricity is a devolved matter. We are actively on that case to
make sure that Northern Ireland consumers and businesses do not
miss out on the support being given by the UK Government, quite
properly treating the United Kingdom as a whole.
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