Heating Oil Prices: Rural Areas
Lillian Jones Excerpts(2 days, 6 hours ago)
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Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
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 bringing about this important debate.
With the conflict in Iran and the blocking of the strait of Hormuz, the price of crude oil shot up, which directly impacted about 2,700 homes in my constituency. The UK Government provided £4.6 million of targeted support to be administered by the Scottish Government to help families, so it is disappointing to see that only half of that money has been spent. I call on the Scottish Government to urgently review the criteria and the process to get the Scottish emergency heating oil payment out. It has been far too slow to get to those who need it most.
Since prices began to spike, I have heard deeply concerning accounts from families who budgeted for one price, only to find themselves facing skyrocketing costs after orders were cancelled and costs tripled. That has left too many of my constituents feeling held hostage by fuel suppliers in an unregulated market. I welcome the action taken by the Competition and Markets Authority to secure compensation for affected customers and to recommend stronger protections for heating oil users. I also welcome the removal of the 4% tariff on kerosene announced in the Budget last week.
The Government and regulators must ensure that we have a robust and fair framework for families and businesses that rely on off-grid energy supplies. We need robust regulation and zero tolerance of companies that exploit their customers. Those who exploit heating oil consumers should face tough penalties and public scrutiny to ensure that my constituents get a fairer deal now and in the future.
Jackdaw Gasfield
Lillian Jones Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Michael Shanks
The hon. Gentleman talks about needing to have set up wealth funds a long time ago. I probably would not disagree with him on much of that, but I would just point out that the Scottish Government have the ScotWind fund, which they are currently drawing down to meet the deficit in their own spending. That is not building a legacy for the future; it is using it to paper over the cracks in the fiscal competence of the SNP Government. The hon. Gentleman might welcome this decision, but I am genuinely still not sure what the SNP’s position is more generally. Nevertheless, I welcome his support for it.
The hon. Gentleman is right to mention the Acorn project. He and I have had useful conversations about it, and the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey), who is next to me on the Front Bench, is the Minister responsible for carbon capture, usage and storage now. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, a sales process is now going through, and we continue to be very supportive of that process. We have set aside funding to support the project.
The hon. Gentleman is also right to flag the question of approvals for projects. Some of that sits with us, but most of it at the moment is involved in a bottleneck on consenting decisions, which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government. I know I have done a bit of point scoring here, but in line with the problem solving driver for this Government, I would just say that I have a really good relationship with Stephen Gethins, the Scottish Government Energy Minister. We are working together on a lot of these things, but we need to get the consenting decisions made much more quickly so that projects can get out and get built.
Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister’s statement on approving Jackdaw. Particularly during the current global instability, it is going to help strengthen our energy security, and protect skills and jobs. More importantly, it will start supplying British households and businesses by the end of the month. Does he agree that if we are serious about energy security, decarbonisation and the faster roll-out of electrification, the SNP must rethink its ideological opposition to nuclear energy? It is a vital part of the energy mix to deliver reliable, low-carbon power for Scotland.
Michael Shanks
I agree with my hon. Friend. I have visited Torness and met the incredibly skilled workforce there. What I find difficult about the Scottish Government’s position on jobs in Scotland is that they are willing to completely turn their back on the skilled workers in nuclear power, who are going searching for jobs in nuclear projects in England or elsewhere, rather than supporting and nurturing those jobs in Scotland today. Never mind the fact that every single day of the week, Scotland’s energy security relies on the firm nuclear power coming out of Torness nuclear power station. We have to remove that ideological block, which is just an anti-science approach to technology. That will help us to get off fossil fuels and deliver clean power and incredibly good, well-paid jobs in Scotland, and I really hope the SNP will change its position.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lillian Jones Excerpts(1 year ago)
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The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
I am happy to have further conversations with the hon. Gentleman. I know that the refinery is in his constituency and that he cares deeply about it. A process is under way—led by the official receiver, because it is an insolvency process. It is considering a number of bids to make sure they are viable, and will conclude in the coming weeks so that there is certainty for the workforce. We have said throughout that we want to support as much investment in that site as possible.
Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
Martin McCluskey
As the Minister for Energy Consumers, I am totally focused on how we bring bills down. Ofgem has already released information about how it will be providing a low standing charge tariff from January. We will also publish the warm homes plan before the end of the year. The warm home discount, which I encourage my hon. Friend to encourage her constituents to apply for, is providing additional support to 2.7 million households.
Nuclear Power: Investment
Lillian Jones Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Ed Miliband
This is why these statements are important. I think I need to check the answer, because I do not want to give a flippant answer to the right hon. Lady’s incredibly serious question. Let me write to her to give her a proper answer.
Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. While I welcome this fantastic announcement, Scotland will unfortunately not benefit due to the SNP’s ideological block on nuclear power, blocking billions in investment and thousands of well-paid secure Scottish jobs and blocking growth across our Scottish communities. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Scotland and, indeed, Ayrshire need a new political direction, and that the only way to get that will be at the ballot box next year?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend puts it very well. I notice that SNP Members have sort of disappeared; they are probably a bit embarrassed. She is absolutely right about this. In a sense, it comes into sharp focus today because we can announce a golden age of nuclear with our investments, but not in Scotland because of the position of the SNP Government. It makes no sense.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lillian Jones Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
In the Budget, the Government decided to transfer the mineworkers’ pension scheme investment reserve to members of the scheme. At the end of last month, the first increase in payments was made to over 100,000 ex-miners and their families. That has meant an extra 32% rise in people’s pensions each month—an average of £29 per week. The overturning of that historic injustice demonstrates the difference made by a Labour Government.
Lillian Jones
I thank the Secretary of State for that reply and for his attentive engagement on the issue. I understand that British coal staff superannuation scheme trustees wrote to the Department last month with reform proposals. I urge the Secretary of State to meet them as soon as possible to rectify the long-standing injustice, especially given the increasing age and declining health of the beneficiaries.
Ed Miliband
I should say that the praise all goes to the Minister for Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon West (Sarah Jones), for the progress that has been made. She is in sole charge of the issue. I know that she has been engaging with the trustees of the BCSSS; indeed, I believe she met them yesterday. She knows the point my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Lillian Jones) is making about that scheme.