Energy Prices

Debate between Guy Opperman and Pat Glass

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)]

I have spoken in every energy debate in the House since my election. That is because my constituency is largely rural and is in the north-east, and because 25% of my constituents are living in fuel poverty. Many of them are on low incomes, there is high unemployment in the constituency—it has doubled in the last 12 months—and we have an ageing population. Any suggestion of an increase in fuel costs always causes real fear and anxiety in constituencies such as mine.

I listened carefully to what the Secretary of State had to say. While apparently guiding us carefully through the complexities of the energy industry, he seemed to me to be doing so from the point of view of the chief executive of an energy company, and I found that incredibly disappointing. I thought it was complacent in the extreme, and I believe that my constituents would be rightly angered by it. The Secretary of State spoke of dithering and delay in the last Government, but in the two years in which I have been in the House, I have witnessed a master class in dithering and delay. We need to get on with doing something about the present situation.

In my brief speech, I want to raise two issues. As a past student of economics, I want to discuss the artificial economy created by successive Governments in the energy industry, and I also want to return to the issue of off-grid and heating oil prices.

Successive Governments have created and modified the artificial market in the industry, but that artificial market has failed to establish safeguards that would prevent companies from manipulating the market in order to achieve massive profits at the expense of the consumer and at virtually no risk to themselves. It has failed to prevent an oligopoly in which these companies can operate with impunity. We now have few suppliers in the market and entry into the market is almost impossible, and the actions of those few suppliers have a disproportionate and negative impact on consumer prices.

Most of our strategic energy companies are also now foreign-owned. I sat through the previous debate on transport, and I heard the shadow Secretary of State tell us how the rail industry is being gradually renationalised and returned to Government ownership, but, unfortunately, not British-Government ownership; foreign companies and Governments now own our rail industry, and the same is happening in our energy industry.

On off-grid and off-gas, I was stunned by the Secretary of State’s remark that the Office of Fair Trading report gave a clean bill of health to the industry. It is clear to me that he has not read that report. I accept that the report said there was no monopoly in heating oil, but I think that is because its remit was far too narrow so the investigation was too limited.

[Guy Opperman]

I am the hon. Lady’s constituency neighbour and we share a great deal of common ground on the issue of off-grid problems. So far as my constituents are concerned, there is no genuine competition and fairness of pricing in respect of off-grid, so from their point of view the report by the OFT, which was only a market study, is manifestly insufficient and not right. Do her constituents convey the same concerns?

[Pat Glass]

Yes, exactly the same issues are raised in my constituency surgeries. The OFT accepted that in some parts of the country there are fewer than three suppliers, but in practice even though there may be three advertised suppliers, sometimes only one company is prepared to deliver. That is certainly the case in parts of my constituency, and I am sure that is also the case elsewhere. That may not be a monopoly in the view of the OFT, but for my constituents it is definitely a monopoly. Some of my constituents were faced with increases of almost 100% in heating oil prices in the run-up to Christmas last year, and only one company was prepared to deliver. I call that a monopoly. I urge the Government, and my party’s Front-Bench team, to look again at the regulation of this sector.

I am pleased that the Prime Minister seems recently to have woken up to the public’s anger about irresponsible capitalism. We have a culture in which obscene profits are made and consumers are suffering as a result. However, I do not believe that the Prime Minister is serious about this; rather, I think it is just focus-group rhetoric. If he is really serious about doing something about irresponsible capitalism, the energy industry in this country is a good place to start.

Energy Prices

Debate between Guy Opperman and Pat Glass

Wednesday 19th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

I am most grateful, and I hope that as part of that inquiry the Committee will examine the weighty report that the OFT has provided, as well as specific submissions from individuals and organisations that, like the previous three speakers, can give specific examples of price fixing or the appearance of price fixing. That is in the context of DCC, the company that I am particularly concerned about and have to deal with, recording operating profits of approximately 19.9% on an ongoing basis. I find that figure hard to square with the one given by the managing director, who when questioned in The Sunday Times said that the operating profit was only 2%—but I have taken my figure from the published accounts.

In Hexham five independents operate—WCF, Par Petroleum, Wallace Oils, GB Fuels Ltd and Rix Petroleum. I urge individual Members to draw to their constituents’ attention by every possible means, as I do for each and every constituent who is faced by heating oil problems, which independents operate in the constituency, so that they are in a better position to get a fair price.

I want to trumpet the great success of the way in which certain communities, such as Tarset, Allendale and Humshaugh, have come together and produced their own price comparison sites. For example, there is Humshaugh village shop, which is run as a co-operative. It was set up by the local community and is financed and run by the 60 people of Humshaugh. Every Monday they publish the prices available from all the genuinely independent local heating oil suppliers. Individuals can either go to the shop’s website or—this addresses the point that was raised about people who do not have internet access—see the prices in the village shop throughout the week. Everybody in the village can then assess who is providing oil locally. Such ideas need to be taken forward.

I welcome the fact that the OFT report indicates that there are problems. However, I would ask the OFT to go further, not least because the report shows that when a company is one of a multitude owned by a larger company, it is obliged to give people who telephone it specific information about who its ultimate owner is. That needs to be monitored, because it is not necessarily taking place. My researcher phoned one of those only yesterday and was not given that information, as should have happened according to the OFT report. I urge the various Committees involved to examine that point.

There is also tremendous difficulty for those who wish to compare prices themselves, because heating companies have no obligation to tell people the price that they are offering. Unless people ask to buy, they are not necessarily given the price. With respect, the Government can do something about that, and I invite them to sit down with individual suppliers, particularly the larger suppliers, and make that point very clear to them. If people ring up and ask for a price, they should be told it rather than the company withholding it.

[Pat Glass]

I am very grateful to my constituency neighbour for giving way, as we have very similar constituencies and face similar issues. Is it not also true that the price quoted when someone rings up is not necessarily the price that they are charged when the oil is delivered two weeks later? Last winter, as the hon. Gentleman pointed out, the cost of heating oil almost doubled in the space of a few weeks. Someone could order heating oil and be quoted 40p a litre, yet get a bill for 71p a litre two weeks later.

[Guy Opperman]

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) is not the only one who has been carrying out research on websites. Let me cite the interesting efforts to prove the hon. Lady’s exact point undertaken by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams), who ordered more than 2,000 litres of heating oil at a price of 40p a litre—again, from DCC—and received only some of the delivery, at the outset, at that price. Later that December, when the remainder was delivered, the price was 65p per litre—an increase of 25p per litre. I applaud his efforts in this House to publicise that, and previous efforts to deal with the problem, as well as the work of The Sunday Times.

I conclude by saying that I endorse much of the motion.

Academies Bill [Lords]

Debate between Guy Opperman and Pat Glass

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Pat Glass]

No doubt the Minister will confirm this for me, but I understand that the YPLA is the rump of what was the Learning and Skills Council. If that is the case, does the hon. Gentleman share my concerns about that? I am not aware that the Learning and Skills Council has the level of SEN expertise needed to deliver on some of the things that we are discussing.

[Guy Opperman]

I hesitate to say that I agree absolutely, but I have great sympathy with the hon. Lady’s argument, because the local education authority will have all the educational psychologists and other areas of expertise that are required in these processes. I would question whether the alternative provision exists; indeed, I would go further than that. Everyone who has done a SENDIST case, running it through the myriad reports, will know the tremendous difficulty that exists in obtaining the right level of reports and presentation to push the thing forward. I would suggest that if people have to go to the Secretary of State, things will take much longer and be much more complicated. I return to the point that this is not me rebelling; I am just saying that the assertions of the founder of all these kinds of reforms—Lord Baker of Dorking—was clear at the outset of this process that we should keep it very simple and put the matter to the LEA, because it will be best capable of dealing with it.

I accept what the Minister said when clarifying the point approximately 15 minutes ago. He said that there is always a duty to ensure that the needs are met. That is entirely true, but anybody who does SENDIST work will know that there is a parallel duty to perform with the financial resources available. The complication is that there are genuine concerns that the financial resources will not necessarily be available in the processes that are being proposed. That particularly applies where there are special educational needs in more rural areas such as mine, where we have 1,200 square miles to cover, catchment areas the size of the M25 and an ability to provide for those needs, along with the necessary rural transport. However, I have not heard sufficient clarification that those rural transport needs will be accommodated as part of the Bill.

Briefly, let me finish by saying that I do not support the amendment, but I hope that we will receive a great deal of further explanation.