Business of the House

John Lamont Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. There are many tall buildings in my constituency of Manchester Central, so I am unfortunately all too familiar with the issues around EWS1 forms and the whole risk-assessment industry that has grown since Grenfell Tower. He can rest assured that the Government take these issues incredibly seriously. We issued a remediation acceleration plan just before Christmas, but I will ensure that there is ample time for the House to debate these matters.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

Applications for battery storage facilities are flooding into the Scottish Borders. There are also plans for a massive 50-mile route of pylons across our unspoilt landscape. Local residents are concerned about the impact on their communities and on the natural environment. They feel that the Labour and SNP Governments will not protect them. I know that the Leader of the House looks for invitations, so will she visit the Scottish Borders to meet local residents, so that she can see for herself the impact that these developments will have on these communities and the environment?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that. One of his previous invitations was to Center Parcs— I might take him up on that one. He does regularly invite me to his constituency. He raises a matter that is very serious to his constituents. We all have to recognise that there is a difficult balance to strike, and difficult issues to face, when it comes to getting the infrastructure that we need to be a clean energy superpower, and to have lower bills, job security and, crucially, energy security. There will be some difficult decisions around the grid, pylons and so on. We have to strike a balance, which is why we are exploring how to ensure that communities that need the infrastructure in their locality can benefit from the lower bills that it will bring.