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Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
This is a matter for the Treasury, although we remain closely engaged. The UN framework convention is focused on improving effective and inclusive international tax co-operation, not on creating specific global taxes on oil and gas companies.
Iqbal Mohamed
The combined market value of the six big oil super-majors has soared by more than $130 billion since the first US-Israeli attack on Iran, while my constituents and those across the country face higher bills. Will the Energy Secretary and the Government work with international partners to establish global taxes on the fossil fuel industry through the UN tax convention and help bill payers with their energy costs?
Michael Shanks
As I said, this is a matter for the Treasury, but we look closely at where we can co-operate around the world. This country’s windfall tax has raised £12 billion, funding public services and supporting the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and many others with the cost of living. We will continue to invest in bringing down bills, but we will also invest in the infrastructure that gets us off fossil fuels.
Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
We are delivering the biggest upgrade to the grid since the 1960s, using strategic plans to identify where new capacity is needed and accelerating infrastructure build. In west London, network operators have used innovative measures to help new developments to connect, despite exceptionally high growth in electricity demand.
Danny Beales
I thank the Minister for that response. As well as grid capacity for much-needed new homes and infrastructure such as Hillingdon hospital, capacity is needed in west London for the large number of data centres being proposed at a regional level. What actions are being taken to strategically co-ordinate those demands and, crucially, to secure local benefits such as jobs and heat capture to lower household bills? Those things are present in the local planning system in Hillingdon, but are not being secured.
Michael Shanks
My hon. Friend is right that strategic infrastructure planning is crucial, which is why we are engaging in the first ever national strategic spatial energy plan, which will lead to a centralised strategic plan for the future of the network. We are also looking at how we manage demand projects such as data centres across the country in order to get the greatest advantage. My hon. Friend is right to highlight the local benefits that can come from heat networks. We will be carrying out heat network zoning to identify where waste heat can be reused, which will bring huge benefit for communities. We are also delivering the jobs that go with the building of the network, ensuring the manufacturing and infrastructure jobs that the UK has missed for many years.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
The problem for the West London Alliance, which comprises six boroughs, is the lack of grid capacity, which means that new home developments and new projects providing business opportunities are frozen for a number of years, into the 2030s. Unless there is urgent action to provide more power to the grid, all those excellent projects will be frozen for far too long.
Michael Shanks
The hon. Gentleman has framed that perfectly. The challenge is not just about being able to get clean power into homes and businesses; on the demand side, it is also about how we can connect these critical economic growth opportunities. That is partly why we have cleared out the connections queue, so that more projects can connect. We have also launched a consultation to look at how we reform the demand side of the queue. Fundamentally, though, we have to build more grid—we have not built the grid that is needed since the 1960s. We are now embarking on the biggest grid upgrade in a generation, which is how we unlock the potential in communities like the hon. Gentleman’s and right across the country.
Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)
Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
Peter Fortune (Bromley and Biggin Hill) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
Families will be deeply concerned about the impacts they are facing as a result of the Iran conflict. This Government are determined to fight the people’s corner. As a result of actions in the Budget, the energy bill price cap will fall from next week and is guaranteed till the end of June. We have already provided £50 million of immediate support for vulnerable customers who use heating oil and will act to prevent unfair practices like price gouging. Above all, we will work to end this conflict, which is so essential and urgent for our national interest.
Sonia Kumar
Given that around one in five households in Dudley are in fuel poverty and that electricity levies fall disproportionately on low-income families, I welcome the Chancellor’s decision to remove some social and environmental levies from electricity bills. That has helped to shield some of my constituents from the impact of the war in the middle east. Does my right hon. Friend agree that rebalancing these levies can both support households and accelerate cleaner heating?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. It is an important reassurance for understandably worried families that, from 1 April, the energy price cap will fall by £117 thanks to this Government’s actions. That happened not automatically, but because the Chancellor made decisions in the Budget to raise taxes on the wealthiest, which was opposed by the Conservative party. That decision is making possible that relief for families, including those in her constituency.
Liz Jarvis
Before Trump’s illegal war, we had Putin’s illegal war. Both have meant soaring energy bills for families and businesses in my constituency. Citizens Advice Eastleigh tells me that more than 2,000 households are in fuel poverty. Does the Secretary of State agree that, so long as the price of wholesale electricity is directly linked to volatile gas, we will be at mercy of despots and dictators, and that decoupling is essential if people in my constituency and across the UK are to have energy security?
Ed Miliband
The hon. Member is right about this country’s exposure to fossil fuels, and that is the legacy of the previous Government. I am incredibly proud to say that, as a result of our two record-breaking renewables auctions, we will power the equivalent of 23 million homes. She is also right to say that the decoupling of gas and electricity prices is an important issue, on which we are working intensively.
James Wild
Twenty thousand households across North West Norfolk and 140,000 across the county are off the gas grid and paying much higher prices for heating oil. Ministers are creating an expectation that support will be there for those who need it. What action will the Government take if Norfolk county council is unable to meet the demand and provide support through the crisis and resilience fund to those who are struggling?
Ed Miliband
The hon. Gentleman asks an important question. The reason why we decided to put the money into the crisis and resilience fund three weeks after this crisis began was to get the money out the door quickly. During the previous crisis, that took 200 days. He asks an important question about local authorities’ provision of support and also what happens if they do not have the funds. That is something on which we are working intensively, and we are keeping closely in touch with local authorities. We want the help to go to those who need it and we want to work with local authorities to make sure that that happens.
Charlie Dewhirst
The latest wind auction has signed us up to sky-high prices for the next 20 years, but Ministers are claiming that their internal analysis proves that this will bring down bills. Will the Secretary of State publish those calculations in full so that we can see exactly how prices will be lowered?
Ed Miliband
We published the levelised cost analysis, which showed that new renewables were much cheaper to build and operate. As gas prices are soaring across the world and hitting us here at home, the idea that the Conservative party still opposes our renewables auction, which gives us clean home-grown power on which we can rely, is absolutely nonsensical.
Wendy Morton
The Prime Minister stood on the steps of Downing Street and promised families that energy bills would fall by £300, yet, since the general election, bills have already gone up by £73 and are forecast to go up more. It is hardly surprising that my constituents do not believe a word that they hear from the Government. Will the Minister explain to me when families in my constituency will actually see that £300 saving delivered?
Ed Miliband
Families in the right hon. Lady’s constituency will see savings on their bills from next week thanks to the actions of this Government. She is wrong on her facts, because, if we look across 2025, we will see that bills were lower in real terms than in 2024. We remain absolutely committed to our manifesto commitment to cut bills by up to £300 by 2030.
Peter Fortune
The Secretary of State promised that Great British Energy would lead to a “mind-blowing” reduction in bills. Can he confirm how much the average family has saved as a result specifically of Great British Energy?
Ed Miliband
Public services across the country, including schools and hospitals—I hope this will come to the hon. Member’s constituency—are seeing reductions in their bills, and money is being transferred to the frontline. We on the Government Benches support those proposals. We support lower bills. As I said to the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), he can look forward to his constituents having lower bills as a result of this Government’s actions.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
There are people who are saying that the way to bring down bills is to reach agreement with the oil and gas companies to charge less for gas in the North sea. Is not the problem with that argument that there is absolutely no way that those privately owned companies will agree—or that their shareholders will allow them to agree, to be more accurate—to a lower price than they can get elsewhere in the world?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend makes the really important, and relatively basic, point that gas is priced and sold on the international market. Whether it comes from the North sea or is imported, it is charged at the same price. And do not just take my word for it; when the shadow Energy Secretary was in post she said that more drilling would not necessarily lead to lower energy bills.
Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend will be aware that this energy crisis offers the opportunity to shift further and faster on clean energy. Will he consider an energy social tariff linked to the warm homes plan to support those who are most exposed to the volatility of fossil fuel prices, not just those on benefits, but other vulnerable communities like the disabled?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend raises a really important point, and no doubt the Chancellor will cover this in her statement shortly. It is incredibly important that we protect the most vulnerable, particularly at this time. I am proud of the action we have taken to nearly double the number of people getting the warm home discount to 6 million people. This very important action will take another £150 off people’s bills, so in a sense, we have a form of a social tariff, but I assure my hon. Friend that we will keep looking at how we can expand that and help more families.
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
I am pleased to chair the newly formed all-party parliamentary group for warm homes. Newcastle is leading the way with its hugely impactful warm homes local grant scheme run by Warmworks in conjunction with Newcastle city council. Does the Secretary of State agree that we need to see more of these locally led grant schemes, which are helping people to insulate their homes so that they can protect themselves from any incoming global insecurity that might affect their ability to heat their homes?
Ed Miliband
First, let me congratulate my hon. Friend’s council on its great work. The Government are putting hundreds of millions more this coming year into warm homes as part of our record-breaking investment. I hope we can agree across the House that investing in home upgrades is a way to not just have more energy efficiency but cut people’s bills. We are committed to going as far and as fast as we can.
Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)
Does the Secretary of State share my concern, or dismay, perhaps, that at a time when families are concerned about the cost of energy and the price at the pumps, the Conservatives have become obsessed with oil and gas licensing and not taking any action at all to reduce bills?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend makes a really important point. The Conservatives come here month after month making the same argument about something that will not reduce bills by a single penny. It was they who said that during the last crisis and when they were in government. This Labour Government are about reducing people’s energy bills, which is the priority of the British people.
Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)
This Government are taxing people up the wazoo and piling cost after cost on to their energy bills. People on £30,000 or £40,000 a year, who are not well off, are being hammered to pay for welfare when they are already working all hours to support their own families. Now we hear that the Government are about to go back to the taxpayer again to subsidise those on welfare, but their first port of call should be to adopt our cheap power plan. It would cut electricity bills by 20% for everybody by cutting green taxes and levies, and it would not cost the taxpayer a penny. Why will they not do that?
Ed Miliband
The Conservatives’ plan is totally incredible, and the shadow Secretary of State knows it. Their plan on renewables is just to tear up the contracts. They had 14 years to do it, and they did not do it. Why? Because they know that they cannot. I have to say, it is quite extraordinary that her position is now to abolish the windfall tax, which has raised £12 billion since it was introduced in 2022. The difference between us and them is that we are willing to tax the oil and gas companies to help ordinary families.
Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)
Despite solar and wind being freely available, only 15% of renewables are subject to contracts for difference, which effectively control prices. Given that the conflict in the middle east is set to add up to £300 to bills, is it not time that the Government addressed this Trump tax by transferring all renewables on to contracts for difference, as part of the Liberal Democrat’s plan to halve energy bills?
Ed Miliband
We are driving forward with contracts for difference, and we are looking at that proposal. On the hon. Gentleman’s more general point, though, he is absolutely right that rolling out renewables at speed—solar, wind, all types of renewables—is the best way to insulate ourselves from global economic shocks. That is a point that we have consistently made, which sadly is being borne out by the events we see around the world.
Gideon Amos
As a former member of the zero carbon homes task force, I well remember the Conservatives cancelling the zero carbon homes programme—presumably they want homes to be colder, more difficult to heat and more expensive. The Liberal Democrats welcome the enactment today of the requirement for solar panels on all new homes, as proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson). My constituents Jan and Jeanette of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Somerset have pointed out that were that extended to car parks and commercial buildings, that would generate as much electricity as 15 Hinkley Point power stations. Will the Secretary of State extend the solar panels requirement to car parks and commercial buildings?
Ed Miliband
First, I accept the hon. Member’s congratulations on our announcement of the future homes standards today, which are a really important measure—they should never have been abolished by the last Conservative Government. On warehouses and car parks—particularly on the warehouse question—we are looking at how we can roll that out more swiftly. There is so much unused space that could be used to help cut bills right across the country.
Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Chris McDonald)
Fusion energy really is the energy of the future. Our fusion strategy, with a fusion prospectus to follow, has a strong focus on inward investment, very much ensuring that Britain is the world-leading place to invest in fusion energy.
Jo White
Last December, Donald Trump’s media and technology group purchased a Californian-based fusion energy company, putting his son Donald Jr. on the board in a $6 billion deal. The race is on for fusion energy production at scale. Will the Minister join me in welcoming the appointment of ILIOS consortium, led by Kier and Nuvia, to construct a fusion power plant in north Nottinghamshire? I am sure he agrees that will mean jobs and new skills and training for my constituency and beyond.
Chris McDonald
I do indeed welcome the £200 million design and build contract for ILIOS with, as my hon. Friend mentioned, Kier and firms like Turner & Townsend who can be relied on to deliver. We have allocated £1.3 billion over the spending review period for fusion. Britain has been firmly in the lead for research in this area; we need to be in the lead in its application, too.
I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents will benefit, but right now it would be difficult for constituents in Scotland to benefit, because the SNP cannot decide whether fusion energy is nuclear energy. I can tell SNP Members that it is, and they should be supporting nuclear energy across the whole country.
Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)
The Treasury Bench would be particularly disappointed if I did not once again showcase what we have at Dounreay: a licensed site, a skilled workforce and a population who would greatly support playing a role in the development of fusion for the future. May I suggest that the Scottish Enterprise network might put its hand in its pocket to bring that forward, if that is helpful to His Majesty’s Government?
Chris McDonald
I share the hon. Member’s affection for Dounreay—I have family based in Reay and Thurso and have enjoyed many a holiday on the north coast of Scotland. As he said, it has a talented and experienced nuclear workforce, and I very much hope that they will play a part in Britain’s nuclear future.
Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)
The Government know that energy bills in Scotland remain too high. That is why we are fighting the consumer’s corner. The action we took at the Budget will ensure that from April the price cap will fall by 7%, or £117, which is fixed until the end of June. That is in addition to support offered to vulnerable heating oil customers in Scotland and the expansion of the warm home discount, which means £92 million in annual funding for Scottish consumers.
Stephen Gethins
Scotland is one of the most energy-rich countries in Europe, and the Treasury and the UK Government have benefited to the tune of hundreds of billions as revenues have flowed in over the years, yet bill payers in Scotland pay among the highest prices in Europe. Labour promised that bills would be hundreds of pounds lower than they are now, yet two years in they follow the failure of successive Westminster Governments in terms of resilience and bills. Would Scotland not be better off looking after its own energy resource?
Martin McCluskey
Bills are going down by 7% from next week. We do not need to imagine a future with independence and what would happen with the SNP in power. Let us look at the record. The hon. Member’s party promised a publicly owned energy company six years ago; we delivered Great British Energy within 18 months. His party scrapped fuel poverty targets; we are lifting 1 million households out of fuel poverty by the end of this Parliament. While his party in government in Scotland abandoned the heat in buildings Bill, this Government are making the biggest ever upgrade to home efficiency through the warm homes plan, with £15 billion of spending.
Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)
Does the Minister agree one reason we need to see lower energy bills in Scotland—and that has been blocked—is the SNP’s ideological objection to nuclear power? I recently received a written answer from the Minister for Energy regarding a study by GB Energy to assess Scotland’s full potential for nuclear power. Will the Minister work with his colleagues to ensure that that analysis is published as quickly as possible so that the people of Scotland can see exactly how much we are missing out on thanks to the SNP’s ideological objection to nuclear power, and how much people are suffering as a result?
Martin McCluskey
My hon. Friend makes a crucial point. I know that he is an advocate for nuclear in Scotland, as am I. We are missing out on the opportunities of nuclear, and it is a disgrace that 1,300 Scottish nuclear workers have to move south every week just to get employment in the nuclear industry. I hope that the Scottish National party reverses its ideological ban on nuclear power as soon as possible.
Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
Methane harvested from landfill sites enables the generation of around 2.5 TWh a year, which is around 1% of the UK’s electricity. Many of those assets receive a subsidy through the renewables obligation, which expires in 2027. That generation has a supportive, but limited, effect on energy security. Given the high impact of methane, my Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are considering long-term solutions to landfill gas methane capture and appropriate transitional arrangements.
Sarah Hall
At a time when families are already under pressure from high energy bills, what assessment has the Minister made of the risk that, without action before April 2027, declining landfill gas generation will undermine energy security and increase costs for consumers?
Michael Shanks
I reiterate that although methane harvested from such sites and used to generate electricity plays a role in electricity generation, it is less than 1% overall, so it is not an issue for our energy security. As the sites age, the amount of methane they omit reduces, and that reduction has been factored into our plans. We are looking at what transitional arrangements are needed to deal with both the methane issue and the electricity that is generated from it, and we will consult in due course.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister, as always, for his answers. It is important that we all get the advantages of the level of methane harvested from landfill sites. In Northern Ireland we also have landfill sites, with a lot of rubbish and therefore a lot of methane possibilities. I know that the Minister visits Northern Ireland regularly, so what discussions has he had with the relevant Minister there to ensure that we can get the advantages that he mentioned in his reply to the hon. Member for Warrington South (Sarah Hall)?
Michael Shanks
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments. My visits to Northern Ireland are important to me, and at the very first meeting of the reconstituted inter-ministerial working group we had a conversation on that exact question: how can we support the reduction of methane across the UK, and how can we support that through the electricity system? Clearly, that is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, but I continue to have those conversations with colleagues in the Executive.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
The nationally significant infrastructure project regime provides a clear consenting route for nationally significant electricity lines, but processes have been too slow and we are determined to change that. Our reforms support the faster delivery of infrastructure, essential for strengthening our energy security in periods of global instability, while maintaining a robust and proportionate consenting process.
Helen Morgan
Green GEN Cymru, which is a sister company of Bute Energy, is in the latter stages of a very controversial process to secure planning consent for power lines for the Vyrnwy Frankton connection. The problem is that there is no substation at Lower Frankton in North Shropshire with which to connect those lines. We expect that proposal to come through later this year, but given Bute Energy’s widely reported links to the Labour party and National Grid’s obligation to connect new infrastructure to the grid, how can the Minister reassure my constituents that the whole process is not predetermined?
Michael Shanks
First, obviously I cannot comment from the Dispatch Box on a live application process. I have met a number of MPs to talk about this issue, and we are looking at all the available information. Ofgem has a role in regulating the individual energy companies that are part of this mix. I am not sure what the hon. Lady’s final point has to do with this particular planning application, but I am happy to write to her on that.
Chris Murray (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
The UK benefits from a strong and diverse energy supply, with only 1% of our crude oil and gas coming from the Gulf, but the essential lesson of this conflict is that while we are dependent on fossil fuel markets, we are exposed as a country, because prices for oil and gas, wherever it comes from, are set on the international market, affecting families and businesses. For our energy security, the answer must be to go further and faster towards home-grown clean power that we control.
Chris Murray
Our energy security is so exposed to events in the middle east because we have relied on oil and gas for too long. Not only do fossil fuels cause climate change, but we buy them on the open market, so no further drilling in the North sea would help to mitigate prices. The only true path to energy security is through renewables and nuclear, so can the Secretary of State set out how this country will do that, so that in future energy crises our country’s security is less exposed?
Ed Miliband
The North sea will continue to play an important role in our energy mix for decades to come, which is why we said in our manifesto that we will keep existing oil and gas fields open for their lifetime, including, as we announced last autumn, the use of so-called tiebacks. My hon. Friend is absolutely right in the wider point he makes. That is why we have the largest nuclear building programme in half a century, it is why we have had two record-breaking renewables auctions, and it is why we recently announced that we will bring forward our next renewables auction to July, because we need to get away from our dependence on fossil fuel markets as soon as possible.
Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)
Given the recent jump in the price of oil, would it not be good for the UK economy, jobs and the Government’s tax receipts to maximise drilling for North sea oil, as Norway does, rather than phasing it out and closing those sites down because of this Government’s, and in particular the Secretary of State’s, left-wing dogma?
Ed Miliband
I disagree with the right hon. Lady on that one. As I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray), we are going to use existing North sea oil and gas fields for their lifetime. I think the right hon. Lady is referring to the question of exploration licences. What everybody says is that exploration licences make no material difference to production levels. On the tax question, I hope she will carry on supporting the windfall tax and will tell her Front Benchers that this would be the wrong time to abolish it.
Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)
I do not think I have ever been called an extreme left winger, but there is always a first time. In rural and coastal Britain there is deep worry among families about the effect of the conflict in the middle east on oil prices. We welcome the £53 million that has been announced to support them, but does the Secretary of State agree that those calling for an expansion of our reliance on oil and gas wholesale prices offer absolutely no long-term solution to energy security?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend is right. Those people offer no short-term or long-term solution to the problems of energy security, and they want to fly in the face of all the evidence. As I have said before, it was the last Government who said that more UK production of North sea oil and gas would make no difference to the global price of gas, and it is important that the House understands that.
Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)
The Secretary of State has just misled the House—inadvertently, I am sure. Can he explain why the price of gas in the United States is about a third of the price of gas in the UK? It is because the Americans use it domestically, is it not?
Ed Miliband
No, it is not. The hon. Gentleman is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to alternative facts. What the last Government said, what this Government said and what every sensible economist says about more production is that his idea of more drilling—“drill every last drop,” or “drill, baby, drill”— would be precisely the wrong thing for our country because it will make no difference to the price. The answer is home-grown clean renewables that we control.
Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
“In the face of further geopolitical turmoil, now is the time to alter our approach to energy… Drilling in the North Sea and scrapping carbon taxes on British manufacturing would kickstart economic growth, tackle unemployment…as well as prevent further deindustrialisation.”
Does the Secretary of State agree with those comments from the Labour Member of Parliament, the hon. Member for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell)?
Ed Miliband
This party and this Government are taking a pragmatic approach to these issues. We are using existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime, including with tiebacks, which is welcomed by industry, but we are not going to fly in the face of the evidence. The answer to a fossil fuels crisis is not to double down on fossil fuels, but to double down on clean home-grown power that we control. The Conservatives used to believe that, before they jumped on another bandwagon.
Andrew Bowie
This is extraordinary—mad, even. No other country on Earth would deprive itself of the vast natural resource we are lucky enough to have at our disposal underneath the North sea. The Jackdaw field alone could provide 250 million barrels of oil equivalent in natural gas to the UK, and it could be up and running by Christmas, but because of the Secretary of State it is stuck in limbo. It is utter insanity. His inaction is an act of national economic self-harm. When will he make a decision and act in the national interest?
Ed Miliband
Before the hon. Gentleman self-combusts, let me tell him that, as a result of the court decision, those projects are proceeding at risk. I will tell him the way we will make a decision. I am not going to comment on a live planning issue, but I will say in general that we will make a decision that is legally watertight. The last Government made a series of decisions that were found—[Interruption.] Conservative Members say “No, no”, but they do not care about the rule of law. We saw that when they said that we should rush headlong into a war with no regard for the impacts on our constituents.
Sarah Gibson (Chippenham) (LD)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
We are taking a strategic approach to planning grid capacity and halving transmission build times through reforms to consenting, regulation and supply chains. We are working with the National Energy System Operator and Ofgem to deliver on radical connections reform, prioritising those projects that are ready to connect and strategically aligned, and to speed up access to the grid nationwide.
Sarah Gibson
The grid connections reform process was intended to improve investor confidence by removing zombie projects and prioritising shovel-ready projects, but repeated delays from NESO mean that many developers are still waiting for their gate 2 connection offers, even for projects that are due to connect in 2026 and 2027. This is extremely damaging for investor confidence. Given the importance of the connection reform to the Government’s clean power 2030 ambitions, will the Minister tell us how the Government are ensuring that NESO and the network companies are working at pace to issue those gate 2 connections as soon as possible?
Michael Shanks
The hon. Lady asks an incredibly important question, and I share her frustration. I have reflected that frustration to all those involved in this process. It is worth remembering that we had more than 600 GW in a queue, and that this process has cleared out 300 GW. That was incredibly complex, and it is the first time that any country in the world has sought to do it. It is the first time that we have done it. Clearly we have learned a lot of lessons, but the process needs to proceed much faster than it has to date. There is a clear timeline to that happening, and the first gate 2 offers are going out now. I will continue to be closely involved in ensuring that happens. It is now a partnership between NESO and the transmission owners to get those offers out the door, and I will be doing everything I can to ensure that happens.
Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Chris McDonald)
After a lot of hullabaloo about the oil and gas industry, we now get to turn to the areas where we are doubling down—namely, on our vast natural resource in clean energy industries and offshore wind, where we managed to attract £90 billion-worth of private sector investment in 2024, in collaboration with the sector councils. Whereas the Conservative Government were happy for those associated jobs to be in Denmark and the Netherlands, we are reindustrialising Blyth, the Tyne and the Tees.
Mary Glindon
Allocation round 7 was a resounding vote of confidence from developers, and our supply chains will welcome that. At a roundtable I hosted last year, the Secretary of State set out the innovative principles behind the clean industry bonus. However, competing against lower-cost regions, such as the middle east, remains a pressing concern for fabricators in the future. Will the Minister ensure that the CIB is as robust and creative as possible so that developers buy from British yards?
Chris McDonald
My hon. Friend is right that the allocation round was incredibly successful. Of course, the Conservatives wanted to cancel it, given their opposition to clean industry jobs across the UK. In the north-east, where my hon. Friend is from, we are forecasting an increase of 20,000 jobs. I know that the Smulders yard in her constituency will seek to benefit from that because, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, it matters to this Government where things are made. We want those supply chain jobs here in the UK—jobs the Reform party would take away from constituents like hers and mine, with its anti-net zero ideology.
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
The Minister will be aware that major hydrogen projects in the Humber area, including those led by National Gas, are ready to go. They are vital to our region, which has £18 billion of value-add and 360,000 jobs, but without certainty from Government, investors cannot commit. When will the Government open the allocation rounds for the hydrogen transport and storage business models so that this investment can actually move forward?
Chris McDonald
I appreciate the right hon. Member’s concerns, having spoken to the hydrogen industry myself, and the representation he has made to me and to the Energy Minister on this issue. I can assure him that the hydrogen strategy will be out soon.
Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)
We understand that many households, particularly in rural and off-gas grid areas, rely on heating oil as their primary source of heat. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has announced £53 million of support for those who heat their homes with heating oil, and £4.6 million will be delivered by the Scottish Government. Obviously, we continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep measures under review.
Mr MacDonald
In the remote highlands and islands, where mains gas is not available, where we have the highest level of fuel poverty in Britain, where local households and businesses rely on heating oil and electricity, and where much of Britain’s renewable energy is generated, but to minimal local benefit, does the Minister accept the unfairness of a highlander having to pay a multiple of what those in cities pay for energy?
Martin McCluskey
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I visited the Western Isles last week to speak directly to people who have been affected by the energy crisis, and I heard about the pressures people there are under. It is why we have welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into heating oil. On his point about people benefiting from local infrastructure, this morning we announced a trial for free wind power for people living near that infrastructure—he will be able to find the details in the Vote Office.
Torcuil Crichton (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab)
I welcome the UK Government’s support for heating oil customers in my constituency and the follow-up support from the Scottish Government, but I am slightly baffled that the Scottish Government have chosen to centralise support through Advice Direct Scotland, instead of entrusting local authorities. Will the Minister urge the Scottish Government to use local expertise, such as Tighean Innse Gall, which he met last week, and Point and Sandwick Trust, which have that local knowledge to find hard-to-reach customers, because we know that in rural areas people are reluctant to come forward for support?
Martin McCluskey
I was pleased to join my hon. Friend in Stornoway last week to meet those organisations. It is absolutely crucial—whether it is through the local government schemes that we are running in England or through the centralised scheme that the Scottish Government are running—that we take advantage of local knowledge to ensure that the support reaches the people who need it.
Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)
In Aviemore it will be snowing tomorrow—in fact, in quite a lot of north Scotland it will be snowing to a pretty low level. People in those areas are suffering hugely from massive energy prices for electricity, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas for tanks. In Aviemore, a 2,500-litre tank, which was filled in November for £1,400, now costs £3,400 to fill. That is the differential that people are having to pay. Does the Minister agree that £35 per household is frankly a drop in the ocean?
Martin McCluskey
I think the hon. Member should be careful not to sow fear about these issues among his constituents, which is precisely what his remarks do. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor provided £4.6 million to the Scottish Government, who have increased the fund to £10 million. It is absolutely imperative that the Scottish Government tell hon. Members and constituents how to access the funding. They are delivering that £10 million scheme, which they have told us will be available from 1 April, so it is up to them to set out how it will get to people.
Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)
About 30% of households in the Braes villages use alternative heating sources such as heating oil—that is far above the district, constituency or Scottish nationwide average. The Scottish Government’s decision to deliver the scheme nationally rather than locally is creating anxiety in those communities that they may be forgotten by Holyrood. What assurances have Ministers received from their Holyrood counterparts that Scottish heating oil support will be available and proportionate for communities such as the Braes villages?
Martin McCluskey
I welcome my hon. Friend’s advocacy for his constituents. It is essential that the Scottish Government scheme, which is running to support people with heating oil costs, finds its way to the people who need it. I am disappointed that the Scottish Government have chosen to centralise the funding rather than work alongside local government, but it is for them to set out how they will ensure that everyone is reached.
Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)
I declare an interest: my home is off the gas grid and my boiler is fuelled by domestic heating oil. I have listened carefully to the Minister’s answers, and there have been significant gaps—there has been no mention of liquefied petroleum gas, for example. Although it is always right to support the most vulnerable in our society, I am not sure that he has fully understood that there are many households on modest incomes across rural communities that do not receive benefits and simply do not have £500, £600 or £700 lying around to meet a bill that they have not budgeted for.
Perhaps the Minister could answer a specific question on certainty. While the CMA investigation goes on, customers continue to place orders without knowing how much they will be charged when the oil is delivered. He could implement an interim measure before a wider set of changes to stop that practice. Will he do so?
Martin McCluskey
I think I need to start by correcting some of what the hon. Gentleman said. In my statement last week, I confirmed that LPG was part of the support—perhaps he did not hear that. Our priority, all the way through this crisis, has been to ensure that funding reaches people at speed. That is why we have delivered support in two weeks, not 200 days. On his point about means-testing, the funding is discretionary, so local authorities can decide how to provide it to people. I think he also called for a CMA investigation. We will look and study the results of the investigation to see what needs to happen to regulate the industry, but, as I said from the Dispatch Box a number of times last week, it is clear that the market is not functioning properly.
Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
Since conflict broke out in the middle east, we have acted to prevent price-gouging, help those who rely on heating oil, and ensure that businesses get a fair deal on their bills. The energy price cap will fall by £117 next week, with savings locked in until the end of June. We have also sped up work to take control of Britain’s energy, accelerating our next renewables auction and our warm homes plan. We will do whatever it takes to fight people’s corner and learn the right lessons from the crisis.
Dr Savage
To go back to heating oil, 20% of households in my South Cotswolds constituency rely on heating oil—that figure is four times the national average—and many of them face high up-front costs. Will the Secretary of State consider supporting more flexible payment or credit schemes, and pooled purchasing models, which would enable villages to combine orders, secure bulk discounts and spread costs over time?
Ed Miliband
The hon. Lady raises an important issue, and I am sure that many Members will empathise as our constituents face difficult times. The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey), tells me that the Competition and Markets Authority is considering all those issues. If Members encounter practices relating to heating and other things, they should bring them to the attention of my hon. Friend, because we want to work as speedily as possible with the CMA to stamp them out.
Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Chris McDonald)
My hon. Friend is right to point out the importance of finishing companies. I know that some spinning and weaving businesses are included in the supercharger, but finishing is often not, even though it is done in the same factory. Clearly, whether they are waterproofing sou’westers or fireproofing mattresses, these businesses are important. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the upcoming supercharger review and what options there may be for those businesses.
Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)
Will the Secretary of State be honest and tell the country why he is ideologically obsessed with shutting down the North sea? Is it because he does not think we need the £25 billion of tax revenue it would generate? Is it because he prefers to import gas with higher emissions, or is it because he has never bothered to speak to the thousands of workers who are losing their jobs right now because of his policies?
Ed Miliband
I am not. As I said earlier, we are using existing oil and gas fields in the North sea for their lifetime, and we have introduced tiebacks for existing fields. While the right. hon Lady comes here month after month with proposals that will do nothing to cut energy bills for people, this Government are actually taking action: reducing the energy price cap next week; making plug-in solar available to all families; the warm homes plan to drive down bills; and crucially, a renewable power auction, which she said that we should cancel, to help 12 million homes.
Claire Coutinho
RenewableUK, the unions, Tony Blair and the Secretary of State’s own handpicked chair of Great British Energy—the biggest advocates for an energy transition—have said that he has got this wrong. Is his ideology so rigid that he is incapable of admitting when he has got things wrong and that he will put us on a pathway to higher emissions and fewer British jobs?
Let us try again. Can the Secretary of State be clear with the House? He knows that we will need gas for decades to come, so why does he prefer to import dirtier gas from abroad than to use the gas that we have in the North sea?
Ed Miliband
I do not. We continue to use the North sea, and ours is a pragmatic position. But there is a wider lesson that the House has to focus on. Is the lesson of this crisis—a fossil fuels crisis—to double down on fossil fuels, or is it to drive forward with clean energy? We believe clean, home-grown power that we control is the answer.
Michael Wheeler (Worsley and Eccles) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)
I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. We are taking three additional measures. We are expanding and extending the warm home discount to 2031. We have supported heating oil customers with the £53 million-worth of support that was announced last week, and our £15 billion warm homes plan is the biggest home upgrade plan in British history. All of that is wrapped up in our clean energy mission—clean power 2030—which will ultimately give us control of our energy.
Stuart Anderson (South Shropshire) (Con)
Martin McCluskey
We moved swiftly to introduce funding to support people. The £53 million-worth of support, which is being disbursed through the crisis and resilience fund in England and Wales, will provide support for people through this immediate period. We will keep other measures under review, but if hon. Members have examples of unfair pricing practices, it is important that they report them to the CMA so that it can consider them as part of its review.
Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)
The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
I congratulate all those in my hon. Friend’s constituency on what sounds like a fantastic project, and it is an example of what we want to see all across the country. The local power plan unlocks £1 billion of investment, with the ambition that communities right across the UK should be able to own and operate their own energy infrastructure, and the profits from that should flow into local communities.
Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
Michael Shanks
We do work very well together, actually, contrary to what it might appear from the hon. Member’s contribution. He suggests, quite wrongly—twice now—that Scotland is generating all this electricity by itself. Of course, those projects are funded by bill payers across the UK investing in that infrastructure. His plan seems to be to take a third off energy bills with independence, with absolutely no credibility whatsoever.
Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)
Martin McCluskey
We heard in the responses to our 2024 consultation the concerns about the continued risk to consumers arising from some of these TPIs. The Government plan to bring in new regulation of TPIs and will appoint Ofgem as the regulator, which will be empowered to put in place rules to protect small and medium-sized enterprises and other TPI customers.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
Martin McCluskey
The support on offer is not means-tested; it is at the discretion of local authorities to decide the criteria for those applications. That is the first point. The second point is that the CMA is investigating this in detail. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier, if there are any examples, please bring them to my attention and to the CMA’s attention, so that they can be considered as part of that review.
Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)
Terminally ill people often have additional energy needs and energy costs. What steps is the Department taking to support those people who are terminally ill with increased energy costs?
Martin McCluskey
I welcome my hon. Friend’s advocacy for those people. No one with a terminal illness should have to face concerns about their energy bills. I will soon be meeting the Minister for Health Innovation and Safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), to discuss how Government can better share data in order to target support at vulnerable people and those with health conditions.
John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)
Ed Miliband
The Chancellor will have heard the hon. Member’s question, because she is in the room. My right hon. Friend is providing support for people but on a platform of fiscal stability, which the Conservative party would do well to understand.
Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)
The Minister knows that Stafford residents are passionate about solar power, and they would like to see the Government go further, with a commitment to solar panels on all new car parks and industrial buildings, like they see in Europe and in France particularly. Does the Minister agree that this policy would help to reduce energy bills for homeowners, as well as protect our rural land, and will he meet me to discuss my campaign?
Michael Shanks
I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend, so I will do that. She is right: we want to cover as many rooftops in the country as we can with solar panels. Just today we have announced that plug-in solar will be available in the UK in the summer, allowing renters and others across the world to go into a supermarket, buy some solar panels, plug them in and save money. That is part of what we want to do to bring down bills across the country.
Chris Coghlan (Dorking and Horley) (LD)
The green firms that innovate the most, and young firms, have been shown to be particularly credit constrained. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what measures the Government are taking to increase credit supply, raise research and development, and increase economic growth?
Chris McDonald
We now have record public sector investment in the development of this technology, with £86 billion to 2030. As a techno-optimist, I agree with the International Energy Agency that we can now solve 75% of these problems using technology, and I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the matter further.
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
For as long as the UK depends on oil and gas, global conflicts will continue to drive price hikes for my constituents in Bedford and Kempston, who face soaring bills when the price cap ends in June. Does the Secretary of State agree that lower bills should come before company profits, and will he levy a windfall tax on the fossil fuel companies, which are making billions from this crisis?
Ed Miliband
As a result of decisions made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, we are raising significant sums from the windfall tax. We do not agree with the Opposition parties that now is the time to abolish the windfall tax; we think that is really important revenue that can help many of our constituents.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
We keep hearing the argument that it will take five to 10 years for new oil and gas to flow, and that therefore there is not point to starting new drilling, but the operators of Jackdaw and Rosebank say that both could be producing by the end of the year—it only needs the Secretary of State to approve that. Why is he denying the UK that supply of domestic fuel?
Michael Shanks
Those projects are continuing at the moment at the developers’ own risk. They are subject to a process, which the Conservative party will understand because this matter ended up in the courts under the previous Government. We are dealing with that process. Ultimately, none of those projects would take a penny off bills—that is the argument we are making. The Conservatives have no plan for bringing down bills; we have.
Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)
Medway Maritime hospital in my constituency is benefiting from a £25.9 million investment to introduce heat pumps and other measures. Does the Minister agree that we could invest in public sector provision to reduce bills in schools, hospitals and other buildings across the country?
Ed Miliband
I congratulate my hon. Friend’s local hospital. He rightly shows the way that cheap, clean, renewable power can cut bills not just for families, but for our public services, as GB Energy is doing, so that we can transfer money to frontline patient care.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
The Secretary of State will be aware of the very high dependence in Northern Ireland on home heating oil. Although the Government have offered some help in the past 10 days, has consideration been given to what happens beyond the summer period if the crisis in the middle east continues over the next few months?
Martin McCluskey
We have supplied £17 million to the Northern Ireland Executive, and I had a constructive conversation last week with Minister Archibald about how that is deployed. We will keep other measures under review as the situation develops.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Minister for his focus on securing UK private investment in critical minerals—it is fantastic to see. I know the Secretary of State agrees that Cornwall is vital for future UK energy security. One test and demo model in the Celtic sea has come forward in auction round 7, but I want to ask the Secretary of State about the timing of AR8, and whether he will look again at test and demo models in the Celtic sea, so that we can really use that energy base.
Ed Miliband
We all love Cornwall and its incredible clean energy potential. I can confirm that we will be opening the new renewables auction in July. We see an incredibly bright future for floating wind, and we see Cornwall absolutely at the centre of that.