Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

Debate between Carla Lockhart and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 General Committees

[Martin McCluskey]

Let me first turn to the point that has been raised by the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim and the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. As I understand it—we were obviously not in government in this period; the party of the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine was—during the passage of the 2022 Act, that section was formulated in such a way in order for the powers to be implemented once the Executive were formed. It does not mean that if there were not to be a First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the powers would cease.

If I am incorrect about that, I will come back in writing to Committee members, but it is my understanding that the section is like that purely because, at the time that the 2022 Act was being discussed, there was not an Executive formed. The previous Government therefore took powers to take action directly, but the section was written in the way that it is to make sure that the Northern Ireland Executive were able to take action once they were formed. If I have said anything this morning that needs to be clarified, however, I will happily write to Committee members.

The hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine asked when we will see the £300 off bills. We stand by the commitment to have £300 off bills by the end of this Parliament. We have been very clear about that—I have been very clear about it and the Secretary of State has been very clear about it. Bills were on a downward trajectory before 27 February, when the situation in the Middle East started. We did not expect to be where we are today four months ago, and we do not know what the situation is going to look like four months from now. We hope that the strait of Hormuz reopens as soon as possible, so we have a free flow of goods through there and oil prices can reduce.

The hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate asked how this will work. I apologise if I did not pick up all the details of her request, but I think she was alluding to heating oil regulation as well. This legislation does not affect the work that the Government are doing on heating oil, which is with the Competition and Markets Authority at the moment. The CMA is working to an expedited timeline to return to Ministers by June with an assessment of how that market is operating. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have been very clear that they do not believe the heating oil market is operating in the way that it should, so after the CMA returns that assessment to us, we will study its conclusions to understand exactly what we need to do in terms of regulating that market.

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

People in Northern Ireland are struggling: our bills are higher and, as has been alluded to and as the Minister has addressed, a number of folks use home heating oil. The £81 million has been allocated to a Northern Ireland Department—a Sinn Féin Department—that is sitting on spend. Will these regulations allow that £81 million to be released to those who are hard pressed and hard pushed with regard to their energy? Will we be able to benefit exactly as folks in GB have over the last number of months?

[Martin McCluskey]

As I said in my opening speech, these provisions allow the Northern Ireland Executive now to take forward their own scheme and for that money to be released, pending the agreement of the final business case with the Treasury. As I also said in my opening speech, I have discussed this with the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy, and we are taking forward these regulations at the Executive’s request to make sure that that funding can be released. Over the three years, it will amount to a £30 bill reduction, because of the removal of 75% of the renewables obligation, which will now be paid by the Treasury. Pending the Northern Ireland Executive coming forward with the business case—it is obviously for them to decide how it is disbursed—that £81 million will be disbursed to people across Northern Ireland.

[Carla Lockhart]

The Minister is being very generous with his time. I hope he will forgive me for making the point that I have limited trust in the ability of the Sinn Féin Minister in Northern Ireland to get this £81 million out the door to folks. What oversight will the Minister have of that money actually getting to the people who need it? It is sitting there and it needs to be distributed.

[Martin McCluskey]

Oversight will be done in the ordinary way that all oversight of spending is done. As I said, however, the final business case will be approved by the Treasury before that funding is released to the Northern Ireland Executive. Oversight will proceed as it normally would in such circumstances.

To conclude, these regulations are an example of good, practical intergovernmental working. They support our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver reduced energy bills. To be clear, these regulations are enabling in nature. Policy decisions on the use of the powers are ultimately for the Executive, as I said, with the funds available to them.

Until February 2030, these regulations give the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy similar spending and direction-making powers to those we have used to deliver reduced costs on bills here in Great Britain. These powers will apply for the duration of the transfer of renewables obligation costs to the Exchequer. As previously stated, I therefore do not expect my Department to need to take further legislative steps in relation to the policy in Northern Ireland, with the Executive now taking on the implementation. I commend these draft regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.