draft Electricity Supplier Obligations (amendment and excluded electricity) (amendment) regulations 2017

Debate between Margot James and Rushanara Ali

Monday 16th October 2017 General Committees

[Margot James]

Eligible energy intensive industries can also be small and medium-sized businesses. Very few of the vast array of companies across the country are exempt. The cost of the exemption will be amortised across many million businesses, so the average increase will be small, and the average company can bear that. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with any further information that we have that demonstrates the assessment that we have made of those companies.

I mentioned that we have developed a package of measures to support businesses to improve their energy efficiency. That aims to improve energy usage by at least 20% by 2030. We have also launched an independent review of the cost of energy, which I am sure the shadow Minister is familiar with. That review is led by Professor Dieter Helm and is all about helping companies to reduce their energy usage, which will be good for the environment and for company costs.

[Rushanara Ali]

Has the Department requested feedback from the businesses that will bear the £3,100 per annum cost as part of the impact assessment?

If so, what was their response? On the costs being passed on to charities, to which paragraph 10 in the impact assessment refers, will the Minister explain which charities are affected? What is their size and scale? Are they small, large or medium-sized? What will be the annual cost to charities? Public sector organisations are under a lot of pressure as a result of cuts to funding. Will the Minister update the Committee on whether an impact assessment has been carried out and what feedback has come back from those organisations about the cost burden of the policy? Once again, I support the thrust of the proposal, but we need answers to those questions.

[Margot James]

I am happy to write to the hon. Lady with more details of the assessment that has been carried out and about the size of the charities that have been scrutinised.

The exemption is a key component of our programme to reduce electricity costs for energy intensive industries. It will help to prevent putting those industries at a significant competitive disadvantage. The increase in industrial electricity costs due to funding the CfD can reduce the UK’s attractiveness as an investment location, and increases the risk that companies will invest and move elsewhere.

[Margot James]

I will ask my colleagues to write to the hon. Gentleman with more information. I would not like to mislead the House, and I do not have the information at my fingertips.

[Rushanara Ali]

I am concerned that if the Minister writes to us as she proposes, we will not have an opportunity to amend the regulations, and she will not have the opportunity to take into account the cost to charities. She will be aware that many charities are having to shut down—I know that, because I chair one which, like others, has faced real challenges staying afloat, but has successfully done so. If she is suggesting that those costs should be borne by not-for-profit organisations without support from the Government, that concerns me. Will she assure us that the Government will find a way to mitigate those costs and will find resources to help those charities so they do not have to bear the costs of companies, if the costs are transferred?

[Margot James]

The Government provide advice to charities, voluntary organisations and businesses to help them improve energy efficiency and lower their costs. We are also revitalising the green deal, which they can access to improve energy efficiency. The cost to charities, like the cost to businesses, will be very small—0.2% of their total bill.

[Rushanara Ali]

It is not acceptable to expect a charity to bear the cost, even if it is 0.2%, without any assurance from the Government. Why are we cross-subsidising from the private sector to the not-for-profit sector? The Minister’s answer is not satisfactory. Will she assure the Committee that charities will not have to bear the cost of the Government’s decision to cross-subsidise by getting them to pay for the changes that they are making to help companies?

[Margot James]

I cannot add anything to what I have already said in response to the hon. Lady. I will ask for further clarification on the matter, but at the moment I can only repeat what I have said: it is a very, very small increase, because it is amortised across so many electricity users—not-for-profit organisations and companies. The exemption scheme allows for real-time changes in energy use to be taken into account, and provides greater certainty. We recognise that the exemption will redistribute the cost of funding to other electricity consumers, but we have taken steps to reduce costs on consumer bills, and they are now lower than they might otherwise be. The proposed measures update and improve the regulations, and they bring them into line with the terms of our state aid approval, allowing us to commence the scheme.

Question put.

Health and Social Care (Re-committed) Bill

Debate between Margot James and Rushanara Ali

Wednesday 7th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Amendment 1169 would be of great benefit in tackling health inequalities. It would make a real difference to people’s lives. Requiring the Secretary of State to lay an annual report before Parliament on progress towards ending health inequalities is therefore key in ensuring that proper accountability continues to exist. What is he afraid of? He could see the impact and put in place mechanisms to continue to improve, learning from the evidence and making progress. Considering how we can reduce inequalities in constituencies such as mine is a constructive way forward. I call on the Secretary of State to think again and accept this sensible amendment.

In conclusion, as the Marmot review stated, the

“link between social conditions and health is not a footnote to the ‘real’ concerns with health…it should become the main focus.”

Tackling health inequalities should be a central aim of health care policy for any Government, and the amendment would be crucial for achieving that. I hope that Members on both sides will back it and that the Secretary of State will take note.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I want to support the leadership that the Bill ascribes to public health and the role of the patient and empowered individual in taking responsibility for their health care as far as is possible. I congratulate the Government on setting public health free, as I see it, and taking it out of its ivory tower. It has been in the preserve of the primary care trusts and although in some PCTs it is given life, in others it gathers dust and is vulnerable to financial raids from time to time as budget pressures build and people seek to take money from an area where the public do not necessarily see the results for a fairly long time and to give it in preference to things that cause short-term pain. Regardless of which party has been in government, that has always been the case with public health.

If we consider where public health can make a difference in preventing ill health, we can see that the future of the NHS depends on a much better preventive strategy. Perhaps the best thing that the previous Government did in health care policy was the smoking ban, which will probably save more lives in the long run than anything else. We could consider some of the other areas that are ripe for similar treatment. I do not mean that we should ban alcohol, but we could consider public health policy and what it could do to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, alcohol abuse and mental health problems. Many of the issues to do with drugs are about education and prevention, too.

I am pleased to see links being built into other aspects of the Bill. Our proposals for public health in relation to mental health have been strongly welcomed by the Samaritans, because there is so much to do with mental health that takes place in the community. The involvement of local authorities and the leadership role given to them in the Bill should enable aspects of local government policy such as housing, children’s social services and adult and social care to be brought to bear in dealing with these problems.