Climate Change Policies

Debate between Lord Bishop of St Albans and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 20th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

It is always a pleasure to hear from the “noble Green lady”, even though she sounds increasingly red sometimes. I am very happy to talk about our record on home insulation. In 2010, under Labour, 14% of homes had an EPC rating of C or above. It is now almost 50%. Clearly, we need to go further, which is why we are investing £6.5 billion over this Parliament on home upgrade retrofit measures. The Treasury has already committed £6 billion from 2025 onwards—the noble Baroness shakes her head; she should listen to the facts. Last week, I was pleased to announce the Great British insulation scheme— £1 billion over three years. Even if the noble Baroness wishes to, she can apply for it online as we speak.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

There is no doubt that His Majesty’s Government have done many good things, and we need all sides of the House to work on this vital area. However, this is not just something which affects some groups; it particularly affects those parts of our nation where air quality is so bad that it is materially affecting the health of many young people and causing huge additional costs to the NHS. What assurances can the Minister give us about the progress of moving to electric cars, to try to make a tangible difference to air quality in our urban areas?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The right reverend Prelate asks a very good question on electric vehicles; let me give him the facts on that. The UK had among the highest battery electric vehicle sales in 2022. We are registering a new EV every 60 seconds. Full-battery EV sales are up 88% year on year. Most of the UK’s emissions cuts have of course come under this Government; we are very proud of our record on electric vehicle sales. We are seeing record investments from BMW, Nissan, Tata and Jaguar Land Rover. Again, the UK has a record we can all be proud of.

Trades Union Congress: Levelling Up

Debate between Lord Bishop of St Albans and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

Of course we want to work with all employee representatives who are prepared to be constructive and who want to see a positive way forward for the country that does not hold the travelling public to ransom. No doubt the noble Lord will also be delighted to know that we raised the minimum wage again in April and put another £1,000 in the pocket of the lowest-paid workers.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

My Lords, the Government are to be congratulated on raising the minimum wage and I thank them for what they have done. There is, however, a really serious point here. As we are facing a serious range of strikes across many industries, the worry is that those people in positions of leadership and authority are not necessarily giving a lead. The question is: how can politicians and business leaders show that they are sharing in the big challenges, the financial challenges, that are coming up? Importantly, although modest rises among those in leadership will not make a huge difference to the overall financial package, it will send out a really strong signal that we are all in this together.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am grateful that the right reverend Prelate recognises the increase in the minimum wage, which is good for so many of the lowest paid workers. It is important for those at the top of businesses to take a lead: they want to take their employees with them and to provide a good service to their customers, and all employers should bear that in mind.

Homes: Environmental Standards

Debate between Lord Bishop of St Albans and Lord Callanan

Thursday 2nd December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord: we need exactly that. We are working both through the Department for Education, with some of its training investments, and with many of the private sector providers which are also introducing new schemes, apprenticeships and training even as we speak. I went up to visit some of them only a few weeks ago, and the way industry is coming to the fore with these advancements is very impressive.

[The Lord Bishop of St Albans]

My Lords, we are going to need a massive step change if we are to achieve reductions in emissions. An important element of that will be providing financial incentives for people to adopt the new technologies and get their houses sorted out, such as the money people can make from selling surplus energy from their solar panels. What is Her Majesty’s Government’s assessment of other small, domestic, green energy production methods which might help us offset emissions from the built environment?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The right reverend Prelate is right to draw attention to some of the export guarantee schemes that we already have. I also draw his attention to the boiler upgrade scheme, which we will be introducing from April next year. That is £450 million of straight, upfront grants for people to install heat pumps.