Oral Answers to Questions

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Great British Energy—headquartered in Aberdeen—is already up and running. Our plans for Great British Energy will be rolled out in the new year. Those plans include working with local communities for solar on schools and hospitals, so that we can start cutting bills for public services and local communities.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

T3. My constituents were promised £300 off their energy bills by the Labour Government. Instead, they are having to fork out additional money for Great British Energy and to pursue net zero, while the Government take the winter fuel payment away from millions of pensioners. How can the Secretary of State justify increasing spending on net zero projects while his Government let pensioners go cold this winter?

Oral Answers to Questions

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Tuesday 4th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bowie]

Food security is incredibly important, and we will, of course, prioritise less productive land for the deployment of solar farms. Our reforms aim to ensure that infrastructure developers consider, at the outset of their programmes, how projects can address the legitimate concerns of affected communities, engaging regularly with them throughout the pre-application phase and beyond. Engaging with statutory consultees early during the pre-application stage will also benefit local communities and farmers through high-quality applications.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of the impact of ending gas imports from Russia on energy security.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

Ending Russian imports in April 2022 has shown that Russian gas belongs in the past. Our system was well supplied last winter by North sea gas and reliable imports—a far cry from Labour’s energy surrender plan, sponsored by Just Stop Oil, which would put us back at square one and in the hands of despots such as Putin and his tyrannical regime.

[Mr Mohindra]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s answer. Could he explain what steps his Department is taking to ensure that no country will ever be able to hold the UK to ransom through our energy supply?

[Grant Shapps]

It is about having a balanced energy supply, which means renewables, nuclear power, and yes, where necessary, oil and gas licences—to do without them puts the security of every single person in this country at risk and means that household bills will go up. Sadly, that is exactly the policy of His Majesty’s official Opposition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Tuesday 18th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

I do not believe this strictly comes under my portfolio, but my hon. Friend has, as ever, brilliantly put this matter on the record and I will ensure others on the Treasury Bench are aware of the remarks he has made.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

3. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the energy bill relief scheme.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)]

The Government’s assessment of the energy bill relief scheme shows we have spent over £5 billion to date—that is around £35 million a day to help businesses, charities and public sector organisations to pay around half of their wholesale energy costs this winter. This support has been unprecedented in nature, demonstrating that this Government are always on the side of business.

[Mr Mohindra]

Linda from the Kitchen Croxley recently wrote to me about rising costs:

“I have spent nights awake imagining solutions…it would be so easy to give up… But my commitment to our customers and community remain so strong that I cannot do this”.

What is the Minister doing to support hard-working people such as Linda with their energy bills, so that she and other small businesses keep their doors open to customers?

[Amanda Solloway]

I applaud the work my hon. Friend does to support businesses in his constituency such as the Kitchen Croxley. I understand times are tough for many small businesses, which is why the Government have implemented the energy bills discount scheme, to take effect until April 2024. Businesses fixed into more costly long-term contracts are more likely to receive the energy bills discount scheme payment support due to how the baseline discount is calculated.