Ann McKechin
Main Page: Ann McKechin (Labour - Glasgow North)(11 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)
3. What steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
11. What steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
16. What steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.
Gregory Barker
The hon. Gentleman raises a legitimate point about BT. I will certainly look at this in more detail and would be happy to meet him to discuss it. We want to press ahead. We have an ambitious efficiency programme, which is led by the energy company obligation. We believe that through a combination of the ECO and the green deal, nearly 250,000 people will have seen their homes improve by Christmas.
Ann McKechin
Fuel poverty is increasing, but the amount of money spent on energy efficiency programmes directed at the fuel poor has decreased by 50% since 2010. Is it not time that the Minister changed his priorities?
Gregory Barker
The hon. Lady seems to be confusing the record of the coalition with that of the last Government. During the last Parliament, fuel poverty rose in every single year; under the coalition, it has fallen in every year. [Interruption.] The definition has not been changed yet. It will be changed next year, on a cross-party basis.
We still have a great deal to do, but this Government are rolling up their sleeves and making a difference, unlike the last Government. They had the chance to deal with fuel poverty, but it rose in every single year of the last Parliament.