Illicit Finance: War in Ukraine

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Nigel Evans

Thursday 13th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

As the hon. Member rightly says, our focus must be on providing in every way we can, with our international allies, all the tools needed to support the Ukrainians in their incredibly brave battle to win this war. In doing that, we will be able to support them to return to peaceful day-to-day life, so that their young people can see an exciting future as free Ukrainians once again.

Importantly—and we always hope Mr Putin is listening to understand just how seriously we see this—when he launched this war he genuinely gambled that our resolve would somehow falter, but he was wrong then and he is wrong now. For instance, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) mentioned the wonderful young people who support the incredible positive work of Siobhan’s Trust, with the simplicity of saying, “We will bring you a pizza while you are on the frontline, just to give you the moral support to keep you going while doing that hardest of jobs in defending your families and your territory.” The positivity from our young people and so many others from across the world going into supporting Ukrainians makes it as clear as it can be that we will all stand alongside those incredibly brave Ukrainians until such time as they win. We will not waver because they will not waver. Their bravery is absolutely extraordinary. NATO is not to be divided. We will not tire, and we will continue until justice is seen for Ukraine.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

With the last two minutes to wind up, I call Sir Bernard Jenkin.

Fuel Poverty

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Nigel Evans

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I thank all those who have spoken this afternoon. It has been a really powerful and important debate. I particularly thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood). It might be rare to see him and the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) standing up together to lobby the Treasury on reducing or removing VAT on insulation and other green products, but who am I to stop such a bonding of those least likely to want to campaign together? It is a fascinating issue, and we should all watch closely and hope that this will be a new match to take on some of the green challenges that we all want to see fixed.

I thank the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun for raising the issues that the all-party parliamentary group for terminal illness raised. I will make sure that I read that report and look at it in more detail. As I said, Scotland obviously has its own devolved controls over fuel poverty issues, but I recognise, as someone who lives in Northumberland, that the challenges of weather do cause differences, and we have to be conscious of that as we work towards finding those solutions.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) for being such a great and persuasive advocate for her constituency. She understands clearly and in depth that there are areas in her constituency that need more support. I hope that she will work closely with her local authority on the schemes it can deliver to help insulate homes and make sure that she drives it to greater success.

It is always a pleasure to hear from my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess), although we did not hear any calls for city status. His total commitment on this issue is heartening at every level. He has campaigned on it and has driven a change in many Government policies over the years. I hope that he supports the renewed drive and, indeed, supports bringing in the band C requirement as part of our fuel poverty strategy. That will not only drive the short-term ways we can help support families in fuel poverty, but will make sure we will change forever the landscape of our property mapping across the country. Properties in bands D, E and F will be brought up to scratch to ensure that we do that.

We must continue to take action to address the fuel poverty that still exists. As we move towards our 2025 milestone and our ambitious 2030 fuel poverty target, we are very aware of the challenges that remain. By focusing on energy efficiency and delivering 1.6 million households out of fuel poverty, and as we move to those low-carbon heating solutions and net zero by 2050, we have the opportunity to ensure that those on low incomes are not left behind. A fair and affordable transition will be key to protecting those who are in fuel poverty.

The social housing decarbonisation fund will deliver energy-efficient homes. Support such as the home upgrade grant, which is due to begin delivery early next year, with a commitment to a £4 billion successor energy company obligation scheme, will continue to help push forward a reduction in the homes that need to be improved.

For anyone whose questions I have not answered, I will make sure that we do so in writing. I thank everyone for their important and thoughtful contributions today.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered fuel poverty.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We will suspend briefly for the sanitisation of both Dispatch Boxes, then we will resume with the next debate.

Electricity

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Nigel Evans

Tuesday 27th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I fear the hon. Gentleman may have to wait for our consultation to consider that, but I absolutely hear his point and reassure him that we will be looking at that in the round. I think we will have capacity. It is so important that we get to grips now, at the start of this really big challenge on buildings efficiency, and think in the round to help those most vulnerable households, and ensure we are as effective as we can be with taxpayers’ money and as impactful as we can be for each and every one of those homes regardless of their situation. I hope he will be reassured, as the consultation gets going, that we will look at that across the board.

The regulations will enable the continuation of support for a further winter. One million of our poorest pensioners and a further 1.2 million households in or at risk of fuel poverty will continue to receive £140 off their bills. I encourage all Members to continue to use the messaging—I am happy to share the detail with them—to reach out to their constituents who might be eligible for pension credit but have not applied for it. We want to ensure that people apply for it. The numbers are lower than we think they should be, so I encourage all colleagues to ensure that all their constituents who are eligible receive it.

As we outlined in the energy White Paper, beyond this extension we are committed to extending the scheme from 2022 until at least 2025-26, and to expanding the spending envelope to £475 million to enable us to reach a further 750,000 households, while consulting on reform of the scheme to better target fuel poverty spending. We intend to consult on the scheme beyond 2022 later this year. I commend the draft regulations to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We will now suspend for three minutes in order to clean the Dispatch Boxes. Please leave carefully.

Electricity

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Nigel Evans

Monday 1st March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

It is very much a live issue, and, across the multiplicity of the energy resources that we are looking at, we are thinking very much about how we will do that. I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, if he would like, to discuss that in more detail in the weeks ahead.

I hope that I have been able to provide the necessary assurances for hon. Members to approve the statutory instrument, and I am grateful to them for indicating their support. As I said at the start of the debate, the regulations that the Government are seeking to amend through this instrument will revise the operational cost levies for the LCCC and ESC. These companies play a crucial role in delivering the contracts for difference scheme and the capacity market. They must be sufficiently funded to perform that role effectively, but those costs must be kept to a minimum. It is my view that the operational budget for 2021-22 strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring that companies are adequately funded and that consumer bills are minimised. I therefore commend the regulations to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I will suspend the House for a short period to allow the sanitisation of the Dispatch Boxes.