Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Linda Riordan and Ed Davey(11 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Linda Riordan and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
The Government will not allow the growth of bio-energy to compromise food security. There are many other feedstocks for bio-energy, including wastes. Crops for energy can be grown in ways that do not compete with food, for example, through using marginal land. We want our farmers to share the economic opportunities offered by bio-energy as well as realising the benefits of clean, secure energy for the country.
Mrs Linda Riordan (Halifax) (Lab/Co-op)
T4. Why will just 3% of families at risk of fuel poverty this year get the help to which they are entitled from the warm home discount scheme?