Non-domestic Energy Support

Cat Smith Excerpts

Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge]

My hon. Friend, like her constituency neighbour sitting next to her—my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy)—is a champion for the steel sector. She makes a very good point. I understand the huge importance of the industry to her constituency and hope that it will welcome today’s announcement on the energy and trade-intensive industry support and the additional discounts that will be provided. I should stress that as well as having a more generous discount, the scheme will apply at a lower threshold; that is important.

My hon. Friend makes a really important point about duration. The current £18 billion scheme is for six months; the industry said that it wanted 12 months, and we have delivered that. We absolutely want to look at what more we can do to be internationally competitive.

[Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)]

Post offices provide incredible support not only to our communities, but to the economic vibrancy of our high streets. However, they are often on quite a tight turnover. Having heard from many postmasters and postmistresses in my constituency, including in Forton, Brookhouse and Knott End, I wonder whether post offices will continue to be eligible for the same level of support. They will be well aware that the headline figures in the support package have been reduced.

[James Cartlidge]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. I know from my own constituency that sub-post offices are incredibly significant in our communities. These days, they are often where we do our banking as well as our shopping and everything else—that is certainly the case in some of my villages.

Sub-post offices are not in the intensive scheme. The level of support that they receive will therefore be less generous; we are being absolutely open and transparent about that. That is because there is a balance to be struck. If we are to be fiscally responsible, making something universal will by definition mean making it less generous than if it were targeted narrowly. We have tried to strike a balance, with more generous support for those sectors that are exposed to international competition and find it much harder to pass on higher costs. At the same time, although it is less generous, our support for the rest of the economy is still significant. That includes sub-post offices.