Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Marcus Jones(11 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Gregory Barker
First, may I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post? I am not sure whether he is the 10th or 11th member of the Labour party I have had opposite me on the Labour Front-Bench, but I hope he has a long stay on the Opposition Front-Bench—a very long stay indeed.
The hon. Gentleman’s criticisms of the ECO are misplaced. I am not saying it is perfect, and as we go forward we will always look to improve the scheme, but, as I said earlier, we anticipate that between 215,000 and 230,000 homes will be helped by the ECO by Christmas this year—that is nearly a quarter of a million families benefiting from warmer homes and cheaper bills. I will be very happy to organise a briefing for the hon. Gentleman, so next time he can, perhaps, come to questions a little better prepped.
Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)
4. What progress he has made on encouraging investment in new nuclear power.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Marcus Jones
Gregory Barker
My hon. Friend is right that the number of companies that are able to offer finance is key. I am extremely encouraged that four companies are already writing plans. The Green Deal Finance Company anticipates that another eight companies will start this month and that a further 20 will begin to write plans by the end of July. We think that about 50-plus companies will offer finance by the end of the year. Ultimately, when to start writing plans is a commercial decision for each company because the green deal is primarily a private sector market that is being created by this Government.
Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)
16. What progress the Government has made on facilitating exploration of UK shale gas reserves.