Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

Scotland has the energy, and in the form of the UK Government it has a strong supporter of renewables and energy in Scotland. The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Greg Hands) and I negotiated the North sea transition deal, and we are also pleased to have announced the energy transition zone in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, powered and funded by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of raising the energy price cap on standards of living.

[Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East) (SNP)]

21. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of raising the energy price cap on standards of living.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kwasi Kwarteng)]

The Government are well aware of the difficulties households are facing, which is exactly why we have provided a further £15 billion of support, on top of the £22 billion announced earlier this year, to support people with the cost of living.

[Kirsten Oswald]

The energy price cap affects consumers and has major implications for business. The price of energy is recognised as one of the key drivers of inflation, because of rising prices at all levels. That is confounded by the Chancellor’s post-covid rises to VAT on hospitality and tourism. So does the right hon. Gentleman regret not doing more to get the Chancellor to provide more support to small businesses and small business owners, to help them and to help keep prices and inflation down?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

The hon. Lady will remember that throughout the covid period my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer supported businesses to the tune of something like £400 billion. A lot of that support, in the form of loans and the future fund, is ongoing. I do not think we can take any lectures from the hon. Lady on supporting business through what has been a very difficult period.