Energy and Climate Change Committee Report

Lord Barker of Battle Excerpts

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Yeo]

I am happy to tell my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour that we will extend our inquiry to cover that point; we have published the terms of reference, but I am sure we can probably still manage to squeeze it in.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

May I say on behalf of the coalition Government that we greatly welcome the report published today? There is a lot in it, and I will certainly be studying it in more detail over the Christmas period as I munch my cold turkey. The imperative of acting in the interests of consumers and being prepared to be radical is something the Government take to heart. That is why we are bringing forward the most radical, sweeping changes since privatisation to how consumer tariffs operate. We will take on board my hon. Friend’s recommendations, including those published today. We are absolutely aligned in the interests of ensuring that consumers get the best deal.

May I also welcome my hon. Friend’s announcement today of a further inquiry? We all have an interest in ensuring that we do much better and raise the level of ambition in relation not only to communicating these messages but to understanding the underlying causes. It sounds as though the report will greatly help policy making.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. I have, exceptionally, allowed that lengthy intervention because I know that the Minister is not allowed to make his own speech, but please could any further interventions be shorter?