Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Iain McKenzie(10 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Gregory Barker
I commend my hon. Friend for his excellent work on an issue that is so important to his constituents. I should love to see a copy of that leaflet. We are keen to find out more about the ideas that my hon. Friend is pioneering with his community, and to learn from good practice and spread it throughout the country. Perhaps we shall have an opportunity to do that when we launch our community energy strategy.
Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)
3. What recent discussions he has had with power companies on their preparedness to deal with bad weather events.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Iain McKenzie
Gregory Barker
Absolutely. My hon. Friend is, as ever, spot on. We have been working very closely with Ofgem to ensure that consumers are not baffled by the information on their bills and that they can make informed choices. Our market reforms will make it even easier for them to get the best deal.
Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)
12. This House was told that the green deal would be the biggest home improvement scheme since the second world war, creating thousands of jobs and hundreds of new businesses. If that were true, why does Enact Energy, which has been in the insulation business for 20 years, cite late payments from the green deal as having put it into administration, resulting in the laying off of all its staff?
Gregory Barker
Obviously, we are very sorry when any business goes into administration, but I think the hon. Gentleman is being a little hasty. It is very early days for the green deal and for one business that, sadly, has gone into receivership there are dozens, if not hundreds, of new small and medium-sized enterprises that are starting up to come into the new competitive marketplace that we are creating.