Oral Answers to Questions
Helen Maguire Excerpts(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Kerry McCarthy
I am happy to join the hon. Member in congratulating his local council. I visited the Local Government Association the week before last, I think, with the local net zero delivery group, on which we have representation from all areas of local government. I am keen to learn from the best and translate that into action for others who need a bit more encouragement.
Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Michael Shanks)
Our clean power 2030 action plan sets out our pathway to delivering clean power. To support that plan, we recently launched the solar road map, which confirms plans to increase domestic solar installations through the future homes standard and warm homes plan.
Helen Maguire
Over 50% of our food and £2.7 billion in lifesaving medicines depend on the cold chain, but operators face soaring energy costs and growing grid instability. In Epsom and Ewell, Sunswap is pioneering battery and solar-powered refrigeration, which cuts emissions while protecting vital supply chains. Will the Minister commit to targeted support for renewable energy innovators like Sunswap, whose technology can strengthen both sustainability and national resilience?
Michael Shanks
The hon. Lady is right that we have an enormous amount of innovation in this space and real potential to meet our future needs, not just as a result of the pathway that we have outlined, but through innovative solutions like the one she mentioned, which provide specific support to targeted industries. I am happy to look further into her proposals, and at the funding available for innovation. If she wants to write to me with any details, I will happily follow up.
Cost of Energy
Helen Maguire Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. The cost of energy is a crisis hitting every household in the country; it is not just a crisis of affordability but a crisis of national security, a crisis of climate and a crisis of social justice, but the Government have failed to act with urgency.
Russia’s assault on Ukraine has made clear the dangers of energy dependence, and we can no longer afford to be dependent on fossil fuels. Investing in home-grown renewable energy is about not just cutting bills but safeguarding our energy security to protect ourselves from geopolitical shocks. Climate change is an existential threat, with global temperatures driving wildfires, floods and droughts. With those come food and water insecurity and displacement, which in turn fuels conflict.
We need a Government willing to make tough choices to invest in clean energy and to ensure that the UK is not left behind in the global transition. Many areas require urgent reform. We need incentives that cover the real costs of installing heat pumps, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) outlined. We must also create a rooftop solar revolution by expanding incentives for households to invest in solar panels. That includes a guaranteed fair price for electricity sold back to the grid, which would tackle the twin cost of living and climate crises.
We must get the basics right and invest in insulation: cold, inefficient homes mean higher energy bills, fuel poverty and a staggering £1.4 billion NHS bill for treating cold-related illnesses. The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe, with one fifth of homes built more than a century ago. A national strategy for retrofitting pre-1920 homes is long overdue, and the Liberal Democrats would launch an energy insulation programme, starting with free retrofits for low-income households.
We must also protect the vulnerable—now. The Government’s decision to axe the winter fuel payment was the wrong choice at the wrong time, stripping support from pensioners just as another cold winter bites. The Liberal Democrats would restore that help by introducing a social tariff for vulnerable households, raising the funds for it by imposing a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants profiteering from this crisis.
The cost of energy is pushing people into hardship today, and without action it will do for years to come. Just in Epsom and Ewell, 6,518 people are living in fuel poverty. I welcome the work of the many community centres that provide warm hubs, but frankly they should not be needed. We must support households by restoring winter fuel payments, introducing a social tariff and driving a rooftop solar revolution. We must cut bills by investing in clean energy, making homes more efficient and ensuring that those who have done the right thing and gone green are not penalised. This is about security, sustainability and fairness. The Government must act; the cost of inaction is simply too high.