Household Energy Bills: VAT

Fay Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 11th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to be called in this debate on household energy. I have a number of problems with today’s motion, which is not a rational debate on how to manage the spiralling cost of living while recovering from the pandemic and meeting our climate change goals. This motion is designed to do nothing more than construct a misleading trope for social media. The Opposition are bringing it forward this afternoon in an attempt to wrestle control of the Order Paper, which they have no business doing, in order to deliver a blunt instrument that will not benefit those on low incomes. They ignore their own role in the spiralling cost of living in Wales.

I notice that what is missing from the motion is anything about the rural cost of living—something that I am desperately concerned about. We understand that we pay a high price for the beautiful landscape in which we live, but that price is becoming unreasonable. Looking at energy, around 12.5% of those living in rural areas across the country are in fuel poverty. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that this is slightly higher than in urban areas. We invariably have antiquated heating systems and poor insulation, and around two thirds of my constituents live off the gas grid, myself included.

[Mr Holden]

I have a similar situation in my North West Durham constituency. Does my hon. Friend agree that some of the other issues, particularly around the cost of transport, also need to be addressed? I take her point wholly that this debate today is very much about playing politics with the situation. Obviously the Government are thinking about important measures for the future, but that is not about handing everything over to the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) and his pals, who failed to win general elections themselves.

[Fay Jones]

I agree with my hon. Friend, and I find it somewhat ironic that the last time the Opposition tried to take control of the Order Paper was during the Brexit debate. They had no mandate for that, and they have no mandate for this.

This also means that we in Brecon and Radnorshire will find it harder to play our part in the fight against climate change. Many of my constituents are deeply worried about how to replace their boilers at the end of their useful lives, so I was deeply reassured to hear the Business Secretary restate during Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy questions today that the UK Government are determined to support residents in Wales as well as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. BEIS is making £450 million available for upgrades, as well as £1.1 billion for lower income households. This is the type of action that my constituents very much welcome.

Having spoken to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, I am reassured by the way in which he is focusing on the issue of rising household costs. He is approaching it in a sensible and measured way, not with social media clickbait but with targeted interventions that will make a meaningful difference to those who need it most. As a result of investment in the kickstart scheme of around £2 billion, peak unemployment is now forecast to be 2 million fewer than previously feared. Keeping to the energy price plan and increasing the warm home discount and the winter fuel payment are all steps that will curb the rising cost of living, and the increase in the universal credit taper is a tax cut for 2 million low-income families. I and many other colleagues on this side of the House will be meeting the Chancellor again later this evening to discuss this in greater detail. I am extremely grateful to the Treasury and BEIS teams for the listening mode that they are so clearly in.

There are many in this House and beyond who often mistake rural areas such as mine for extremely wealthy areas, but this is simply not the case. The cost of living is hitting hard in Brecon and Radnorshire, but that is on top of other pressures that are ignored by the Labour Government in Cardiff. We have next to no public transport, so we are forced to drive everywhere in cars powered by ever more expensive fuel. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden) for the work that he has done to draw attention to this. Our broadband is slow on a good day, because funding is targeted at densely populated and, curiously, Labour-voting areas. Our schools have to close and our council tax is higher because our local authority has been given one of the lowest budget allocations in Wales for the last 10 years. If only we could have the level of investment and support that has been directed at the cities and the south Wales valleys, household bills in rural areas such as Brecon and Radnorshire would be lower.

I will not support the Opposition motion today. I want the House to have a meaningful debate on household costs that is not motivated by knocking lumps out of the Government, but puts the rural poor at its centre. I commend the Government for their mature and grown-up efforts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.