Gas Prices and Energy Suppliers

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Joy Morrissey

Thursday 23rd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

Clearly there was a lot in that question and statement. I will deal with a couple of issues, if I may.

With respect to universal credit and wider budgetary considerations, I have repeatedly said that they are matters for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. We will have ample opportunity to discuss these things in the House. With respect to the move away from fossil fuels, the hon. Gentleman and I are in agreement: I think that we need a diverse supply of decarbonised sources of energy.

Finally, I dispute the idea that we are ill-prepared. We have the SOLR and SAR processes in place and we stress-tested them throughout the whole covid period, when I was in constant contact with the industry. I feel that so far we have managed to accommodate such supplier failure as we have seen with existing structures.

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the cold weather payment scheme will remain in place?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

Again, there are further budgetary issues, but I have always said that we are absolutely focused on customers, particularly the most vulnerable customers. The warm home discount is staying and we are looking to protect the most vulnerable customers, particularly prepaid customers, from the worst effects of the energy price spike.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Joy Morrissey

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I am absolutely mindful of the immense pressures our businesses right across the UK are suffering under at the moment. I am in regular contact with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, who has acted in an unprecedented way; as I have said, he has put £280 billion into the economy to help our struggling businesses. But of course we are looking at the situation as it evolves, and we are very keen to help our economy through this.

[Joy Morrissey [V]]

May I congratulate my right hon. Friend again on his new position and on behalf of the 3,700 businesses across Beaconsfield that have benefited from the £200 million-worth of Government-backed loans since the start of the pandemic? Will he join me in paying tribute to Buckinghamshire Council for its excellent work in ensuring that businesses are supported during the pandemic, and confirm that he will continue to offer all the support he can to protect jobs and keep businesses afloat so that we can look to not only restart our economy but build back better from the pandemic?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

Throughout this crisis, as I am sure my hon. Friend is aware, the Government have stood by businesses, as she mentioned, and worked tirelessly to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods across the entirety of our country. As we emerge from the pandemic, we will ensure that we seize the initiative, as she put it, to build back better, greener and faster from this pandemic.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Joy Morrissey

Tuesday 29th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend is quite right. In addition to the proposed extension to the Rampion offshore wind farm off Brighton, I understand that there is significant market interest in the Crown Estate’s current seabed leasing round, and that, we expect, will include areas off the coast of the south-east of England, near my hon. Friend’s constituency.

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support an environmentally sustainable economic recovery in the automotive sector.