Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Helen Hayes and Andrea Leadsom(1 year ago)
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Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Dame Andrea Leadsom)
The hon. Lady raises such an important question on a subject that is dear to both our hearts. We all know it is an offence to sell vapes to children under 18, yet one in five children tried a vape in 2023 alone and the number trying vapes has tripled in the last three years. We know the industry is targeting children, quite cynically. That is unacceptable. Our tobacco and vapes Bill will restrict the appeal and availability of vapes to children, and we are consulting on that right now.
Helen Hayes
As the Minister rightly said, under-age vaping has increased by 50% in just the past three years. Ministers had the chance to stop this trend two years ago, during the passage of the Health and Care Act 2022, when Labour tabled an amendment to prohibit branding that appeals to children, but Ministers would not support it and Conservative Members voted it down. Does the Minister regret the fact that the Government did not act sooner? When will the planned new legislation be brought to the House? The consultation is welcome, but there is consensus on the issue and action is urgently needed.
Dame Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Lady knows full well that making decisions that change legislation requires consultation. That is both the convention and the requirement. The Government have brought forward the consultation as soon as possible. It will close tomorrow and we will introduce legislation as soon as possible in the new year. I think the hon. Lady will find that that legislation really will tackle the problem of the cynical targeting of children.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Helen Hayes and Andrea Leadsom
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
13. What assessment she has made of trends in the level of take-up of domestic solar photovoltaic systems since the relaunch of the feed-in tariff in February 2016.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom)
In the first quarter of our new, more sustainable cost control regime under FITs, six out of 11 deployment caps were reached, including the two largest of the four solar caps. Take-up of domestic solar photovoltaic systems is strong but still within the cap. We estimate that FITs will support over 178,000 new solar PV installations at domestic scale by 2018-19.
Helen Hayes
Domestic solar installers in my constituency report that demand for their services has plummeted over the past year, and domestic solar installations across the country are down 80% on this time last year. Will the Minister now acknowledge that the new tariff is too low and that the disastrous approach that this Government are taking to solar energy is effectively stopping individuals who want to make a contribution to combating climate change in their own homes by installing solar panels from doing so?
Andrea Leadsom
No, I do not recognise what the hon. Lady says. Solar deployment in this country has been amazing, and far in excess of all our expectations. Some 99% of solar installations have taken place since 2010—under this Government and the previous Government, not under the Labour Government. It has been a huge success story. As I have said, our subsidy regime takes into account the interest for the consumer who has to pay it and the developer who is continuing to build. Some of the caps have already been met and others are performing strongly.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Helen Hayes and Andrea Leadsom(9 years, 3 months ago)
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Andrea Leadsom
I can assure my hon. Friend that we are doing everything we can to improve exploration of the further potential in the North sea, and he is right to point to the gas reserves in the southern North sea. Of course, the beauty of this is that gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, so it can also help to meet our decarbonisation objectives.
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
This week I had a meeting with Sustainable Energy 24, a community benefit society established to deliver solar panels on public and community buildings in my constituency. It told me, in relation to the cut in the feed-in tariff and the ending of pre-accreditation:
“It is hard to see how any community energy group can continue on this basis.”
Can the Secretary of State tell me why the impact on community energy companies was not considered ahead of the consultation and provide reassurances that the consultation response will address that very important issue?