Oral Answers to Questions

Linda Riordan Excerpts

Thursday 31st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I am grateful for the chance to answer a question on this issue, because the report that my predecessor commissioned from Professor John Hills is a serious report, and I urge all right hon. and hon. Members to read it. It talks about how we measure fuel poverty and shows that some of the statistics we have used in the past have been deeply unhelpful in tackling fuel poverty, not least because they failed to identify the people who were in grinding fuel poverty year in, year out. The proposals put forward by Professor John Hills will ensure that the really poor, who never escape fuel poverty, are identified and that we can give them much greater help. That is the real debate we should be having, not this exchange of statistics that gets us nowhere.

[Mrs Linda Riordan (Halifax) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What assessment he has made of changes in the level of fuel poverty since 2010.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

16. What assessment he has made of changes in the level of fuel poverty since 2010.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mrs Linda Riordan. [Interruption.] I do apologise. I thought the Minister of State had completed his answer, but there were further joys to behold and I did not realise that.

[Mrs Riordan]

Since the Government came to power, the average energy bill has risen by more than £300 a year—a big issue for my constituents, with all the other cuts going on. Is it not a fact that the Government have halved their support for people in fuel poverty?

[Gregory Barker]

No, that is not the case. The hon. Lady knows that during the previous Parliament fuel poverty rose from 2 million to 5.5 million, and it continues to be a huge issue. The only way we will tackle it is not by chasing gas prices, but tackling the underlying cause—the fabric of our homes—and creating better, warmer and cheaper homes for people to live in.