Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Charters and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

16. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the extension of the warm home discount on living standards.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)]

I am proud that the Government have extended the warm home discount to an extra 2.7 million households, taking the total to around 6 million. Last week, we announced that the scheme would continue supporting households for a further five years to 2031. This will make a vital difference to so many families this winter, including an additional 190,000 households in Yorkshire and the Humber.

[Mr Charters]

I will never forget my mum renting a house in York with ancient heating, freezing rooms and an evil prepayment meter that drained her finances. In York, over a third of fuel-poor households rent privately. What is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that the warm home discount reaches them and ends the unfair penalty paid by many simply for renting?

[Martin McCluskey]

The experience that my hon. Friend outlines is still all too common in our country, and I know that he continues to raise this issue on behalf of all his constituents. The warm home discount is available to eligible private renting households on prepayment meters, and through the warm homes plan we are taking significant action to increase the minimum energy efficiency standards for the private rental sector, so that every private renter in my hon. Friend’s constituency and elsewhere benefits from a warm home that is cheaper to heat.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Charters and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

The warm homes plan will be published soon and I look forward to conversations with the hon. Member about how we roll out its ambitious measures. ECO did not target those in fuel poverty successfully enough—we spent far too much on something that did not deliver the right results. Instead, the warm homes plan will provide £1.5 billion of additional capital support, targeted at people on low incomes. That is in addition to, for example, local authority grants, which target billions of pounds at low-income households. However, I am more than happy to have further conversations with the hon. Member when the warm homes plan is published.

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to create jobs in the energy sector in Yorkshire and the Humber.