Heating Oil Prices: Rural Areas Debate
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Jayne Kirkham
Main Page: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)Department Debates - View all Jayne Kirkham's debates with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
Heating Oil Prices: Rural Areas
Jayne Kirkham Excerpts(2 days, 12 hours ago)
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Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for securing this debate.
In Truro and Falmouth, 5,000 homes are off the grid. Like others, I welcome the £53 million of support and the regulation of the market for the first time. Similarly to other councils, Cornwall council was given £1.53 million and is handing it out in pockets of £300 for people who get council tax support. However, only £402,000 has been handed out so far. The council is doing a second round of funding and putting it into the crisis and resilience fund, but people need to know that is available. We need to push that out further.
In Kehelland village in Cornwall we have piloted hydrotreated vegetable oil—a renewable fuel that is not from the middle east. It simply needs technical consultation with heating oil suppliers and a statutory instrument for that renewable fuel obligation to be rolled out in a similar way to how it is for transport. That could really help. Many villagers in Kehelland are pleased with what they are getting and would like to see it rolled out further.
The warm homes plan will of course help people move to renewables, but in Cornwall, many houses are listed properties or in conservation areas and people struggle to make differences to their homes that will enable them to keep the heat in and make the use of the warm homes adaptations.