Heating Oil Support
Manuela Perteghella Excerpts(1 week ago)
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Martin McCluskey
I will say a couple of things in response to that. We have been in constant dialogue with industry bodies to communicate clearly to them what we would see as inappropriate action and pricing. We are moving at pace with the CMA and have asked it to look at this market because it is clearly not functioning. Absolutely none of our constituents should have to face the kind of situation that my hon. Friend describes.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
Nearly 13,000 households are off-grid in my constituency, including my home. It is a wild west out there; prices have doubled in just a few weeks, and many of my constituents are not even able to pay for the minimum 500-litre orders required by the providers. Does the Minister agree it would be far quicker and simpler for the Government to provide relief through a VAT holiday on heating oil and LPG? That would ensure that support reaches every household immediately, rather than relying on councils to distribute limited discretionary funds.
Martin McCluskey
Our priority has been to ensure that support reaches people as quickly as possible. That is why we have come forward with this proposal today. As I said in response to previous questions, we will keep the situation under review as the situation in the middle east progresses. The CMA is looking at a number of areas before it makes recommendations that might lead to regulation, and we will study those carefully. One of those is whether the issue of minimum orders needs to be examined more closely. The hon. Lady has my reassurance that we are looking at this issue, and the CMA will come forward with proposals.
Warm Homes Plan
Manuela Perteghella Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Ed Miliband
Absolutely, yes. I am so sorry to hear about the experience of my hon. Friend’s constituents. We must ensure that we do not let that kind of thing happen.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
In my constituency, there are hundreds of residential park homes occupied by elderly residents. They are very energy-inefficient homes and very complex to retrofit. Previous home upgrade grants were ineffective and bureaucratic, because of the batching application process to retrofit homes, so they did not reach many park homes. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the warm homes plan will effectively deliver for park home residents?
Ed Miliband
As an MP with park homes in my constituency, I am very sympathetic to the issues facing people who live in park homes. To give the hon. Lady a proper answer, I will take that away and pass it on to the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West.
Warm Homes Plan
Manuela Perteghella Excerpts(4 months ago)
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Dr Chowns
The hon. Gentleman may have been reading my notes over my shoulder, because I was about to make exactly that point. We must keep the needs of the most vulnerable households front and centre.
I was talking about the fuel poverty statistics. According to the Government’s own figures, 3 million households were fuel-poor in 2024, but using the definition that is still used in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, campaigners estimate that the number of UK households facing fuel poverty is nearly double that number—about 6 million households. We live in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and no one, but no one, should be struggling to keep their home warm.
In the west midlands, where my lovely constituency is, we face the highest regional rate of fuel poverty in England. North Herefordshire far more badly affected than the national average. Adding to the strain in my constituency is the fact that rural homes are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty. They are more likely to be detached or built before 1919—that is certainly the case in North Herefordshire—and therefore harder to heat efficiently, and rural households face deep fuel poverty and high energy costs. Moreover, installers are known to avoid complicated homes, such as those in my constituency, because they are less profitable, which means that schemes such as the ECO often fail to reach rural locations.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
In my constituency, the charity Act On Energy gives advice and support on energy efficiency to residents, many of whom are in fuel poverty. Its work is particularly relevant in rural communities where properties are older and harder to insulate and, in many instances, rely on oil and liquefied petroleum gas. Does my hon. Friend agree that more must be done to help off-grid households to insulate their homes properly?