Energy Prices
Debate between Iain McKenzie and Lindsay Hoyle(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke), although he seems a bit out of touch with what is actually happening.
I welcome this debate, which further highlights problems with energy costs across the country. Energy demand by consumers must be met with reasonable prices for energy. Prices should reflect any reductions in the cost of energy as soon as possible. Labour has asked for the energy regulator to be given the power to take immediate action to ensure that reductions in wholesale costs are passed on to consumers immediately.
Only last week, the Government accepted that the energy market was broken. That should not come as news to them. It is certainly not new, because they were told about the practice in a report by the energy regulator in 2011. In stark contrast to what the Secretary of State said about his hyperactive approach, the Government seem to prefer to sit back and trust the large energy companies to do the right thing on pricing. We want big changes in our energy market. As Opposition Members have said, we want a price freeze until 2017—to allow energy prices to fall, but not rise—and we can then fix the market.
As we know, hard-working families are now struggling to meet their energy costs, especially at this time of year. Remembering that the next bill will cover the winter period, they fear that it will again be difficult to pay for their energy. At this time of year, families see their energy consumption rise. It will rise dramatically for families up and down the country this year if the weather that we have suffered in Scotland over the past few weeks is anything to go by. Families especially use the basics of life, such as washing machines, more regularly in the winter months, and tumble dryers will be on constantly day in and day out, which will run up their energy bills dramatically. Energy companies are fully aware of that, I am afraid, and are taking full advantage. The cost of energy is now one of the largest demands on household income.
We have touched on the direct debit payments that never seem to be adjusted down. Energy companies continue to take the same direct debit payment month after month, only for people to discover that they have overpaid by quite a sum. However, it never seems to be returned unless people demand it.
In the time I have left, I will speak about the new i.HEAT project in my constituency, which has been set up to tackle fuel poverty in communities across Inverclyde, where we are seeing a dramatic increase in fuel poverty. The project assists householders not only to access hard measures such as insulation, but to make changes in their energy consumption through behavioural changes. It provides step-by-step guidance on changing suppliers. Anyone who has tried to change suppliers knows that it is not an easy process. Some elderly households and families need to be taken through the process step-by-step to ensure that they get the best deal. Community participation is vital in engaging with householders and building links with registered social landlords. Community groups are brought into the equation to identify vulnerable households and offer them assistance with energy-related issues.
The project offers free impartial advice and advocacy support to anyone across Inverclyde. It has had a significant effect. In its brief few months, it has already pulled almost £1 million into my community to tackle fuel poverty. It is going a great deal of the way towards ensuring that households have energy-efficient homes and the benefits that they bring, as well as the support that they need to meet their increasing fuel bills. I am always amazed at the lack of energy efficiency that is built into new homes. That is an ongoing problem.
Equally, businesses suffer from high energy costs. Low energy costs will attract businesses and jobs to the area. It is like back to the future in Inverclyde, where we are looking at hydro projects to support businesses and subsidise their energy costs.
Today, Labour is challenging the Government to back our plans—
Devolution and the Union
Debate between Iain McKenzie and Lindsay Hoyle(9 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)
Order. May I just help Members? I do not reduce the time limit deliberately—I do that because Members keep intervening. If Members want to get in, the only way I can accommodate that is by reducing the limit. So it is no use people tutting at me, as I am trying to help everybody who wants to enter into the debate.
Mr McKenzie
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I rise to welcome this debate on devolution and the Union, which comes so shortly after that momentous decision in September by the Scottish people, when they voted overwhelmingly to stay part of the United Kingdom and the Union. We should all accept and recognise that democratic decision and the will of the Scottish people. I spent many months on the campaign trail in my constituency, securing a no vote in Inverclyde, which I was glad to see. However, I was not prepared to rejoice in winning that no vote, because I saw the division that had been created in communities across Scotland, even in families, by the referendum. The Labour party has always led on devolution to Scotland and we engage with the Smith commission in a spirit of openness and partnership, and we hope other political parties will do likewise.
More powers for Scotland are guaranteed, regardless of what we hear from others. We guaranteed this during the referendum campaign, and we will also deliver more powers on the timetable we promised. We want the Smith commission to be led by the result of the referendum. The conclusion should reflect the fact that people want a strong Scottish Parliament inside a strong UK, with the continuation of pooling and sharing of resources across the UK.
I want devolution to be more than that, however—I want it to continue and cascade downwards to local government. On the east coast we see the centralising, controlling SNP in power in Scotland, and therefore on the west coast we need that devolution to come our way. We do not wish to see powers simply put on the train from London to Edinburgh and remain there. We need those powers to be devolved to Scottish local government as well. We have seen that while the east coast is given huge amounts of infrastructure and support, the west coast has not been so fortunate. We feel very removed from Holyrood. We should be devolving more powers to local government, which knows the local communities and what they need and should not be overruled from Edinburgh on what it is trying to deliver.
In last year’s autumn statement we saw many hundreds of millions of pounds coming to Scotland to reside in the coffers of the Scottish Government, but we have seen very little of that cascade down into local government, with my local authority in Inverclyde receiving a pittance of 0.1% of that funding to do anything to enhance communities. We needed, and wished for, our fair share to make a real difference. That is what we in Inverclyde see as the essence of devolution—to see that devolution end up on the doorstep, with people feeling that real power can be taken in their communities, and seeing once again, as we saw in the referendum, that when they cast their vote, it can make a real difference.
We have heard much from the SNP Government in Edinburgh about the fact that they would devolve powers, and it is strange that they attack the vow, yet they are unwilling to make a vow of their own—to list the powers they would cascade to local government and make a real difference. Instead everything they accuse this Parliament of, they replicate: they guard and keep the powers to themselves. We need devolution to come down the line to local government.