Oral Answers to Questions

Martin McCluskey Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

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

Ensuring that everyone has access to a safe and warm home is our priority. From this winter, we estimate that an extra 280,000 families in the north-west will receive £150 off their energy bills, thanks to decisions taken by this Government. Through our warm homes plan, we will bring down bills for families right across the country.

[Mr Morrison]

According to National Energy Action, adults in the north are more likely to ration their energy this winter, and in my constituency almost 8,000 people are in fuel poverty and at risk of poor living conditions, illness and suffering. A balance must be struck to deliver both clean heating and a people-first approach. After serious delay, will the Minister finally bring forward a warm homes plan, and explain how it will achieve that balance and ensure that low-income households in Cheadle are guaranteed clean, affordable heating for the winters to come?

[Martin McCluskey]

We will bring forward the warm homes plan this year. In March, we allocated around £1.8 billion to local authorities and social housing providers through the warm homes local grant. The hon. Member may want to direct his constituents to the Greater Manchester combined authority, which received a settlement of £134.9 million of devolved capital funding for buildings retrofit. They can access that through the retrofit portal, which has an eligibility checker, so that households can check whether they qualify for free or discounted home upgrades.

[Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the warm home discount on levels of fuel poverty.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

7. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the warm home discount on levels of fuel poverty.

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

From this winter, an additional 2.7 million households across the UK will receive £150 off their energy bills, which makes a total of nearly 6 million low-income households receiving this vital support. That is the difference that this Government are making to our communities.

[Paul Waugh]

I am delighted that thanks to this Government and the warm home discount eligibility extension, thousands more Rochdale families will be eligible for £150 off their bills this winter. It will ensure that young and old alike get more help with their bills this winter. I would like to raise the case of my constituent Keith Gumbridge, who had his cavity wall insulation botched under the previous Government, and who was left with huge legal bills after so-called “no win, no fee” law firm Pure Legal went bust. Mr Gumbridge’s case has been with the Legal Ombudsman for nearly three years; does the Minister agree that that is far too long to wait for justice?

[Martin McCluskey]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all his work championing causes for his constituents. He will know that an extra 280,000 households in the north-west will be eligible for the warm home discount, and that 2.7 million households across the country will be helped this year. I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the case of Mr Gumbridge. Ensuring confidence in the insulation system will be crucial to rolling out the warm homes plan.

[Adam Jogee]

I congratulate the Minister on being freed from the Government Whips Office and welcome him to his position on the Front Bench. I commend the Government on extending the warm home discount to a further 2.7 million low-income households, but there is much more to do. With that in mind, will the Minister find time to meet me, so that we can discuss how we can keep people in Newcastle-under-Lyme alive, safe and warm in the colder months ahead?

[Martin McCluskey]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments on my liberation from the Government Whips Office. I know that he is a champion for his constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and I am always happy to meet to discuss these important issues. He will know, as I do, that with wholesale gas costs 77% higher than before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we must get people off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and on to clean home-grown power.

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

Nearly 3 million households in the UK live in fuel poverty. At the same time, a recent report from the Common Wealth think-tank told us that energy company profits average about a quarter of everybody’s bills. In the last few years, £70 billion has been paid to shareholders, instead of being reinvested or used to help tackle fuel poverty. Will the Minister commit to tackling those energy company profits by taxing them fairly and reinvesting the money in the urgent work that is needed—for example, through the warm homes plan—to tackle the scourge of fuel poverty in our country?

[Martin McCluskey]

The cost of energy has to come down, and one of my jobs as Minister for energy consumers is driving down the cost of bills, but we must also remember that the Government introduced a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies, and we have the price cap on energy, which caps the profits of energy companies. We will continue to take that action.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

Despite the oil price being at a six-month low this week, energy prices remain stubbornly high. Given the onset of winter, what further steps will the Minister and his Department take by way of a warm home scheme?

[Martin McCluskey]

We are taking action through the warm home discount, which is being provided to an extra 2.7 million households across the country, and the warm homes plan, which we will roll out before the end of the year.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

5. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of energy prices on economic growth.

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

High and volatile energy prices are bad for growth, take money out of consumers’ pockets and make our businesses less competitive. Through our mission to achieve clean power by 2030, we are taking the country off the rollercoaster of global fossil fuel prices and have set a route to home-grown cheap and greener energy.

[Stephen Gethins]

The Minister and I come from one of the most energy-rich parts of Europe, yet its consumers have among the highest energy bills in Europe. That drives up fuel poverty and hits the cost of living crisis. He will be aware of that. Labour promised to bring down bills by £300; they will have gone up by about the same amount. Does the Minister understand why people are so frustrated with the Government?

[Martin McCluskey]

Like the hon. Member, I understand people’s frustration when they look at their energy bills each month. [Interruption.] That promise stands. That is why we are taking concerted action through the warm home discount, which is providing 2.7 million households with support this winter, and the warm homes plan, which we will roll out this year.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Friern Barnet) (Lab)]

Economic growth is a key driver for all our constituents. What is the Government’s estimate of the number of jobs that will be created in the UK by 2030? Is it true to say that it will be triple the number in the old economy?

[Martin McCluskey]

Hundreds of thousands of jobs will come from the clean power revolution. That is why it is so important that we push ahead with it and do not adopt the tactics of the Conservative party, or their friends on the Back Benches. We need to push ahead with clean power in order to unlock those hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

I welcome the new Ministers to the Front Bench. On the first day of recess, away from scrutiny, the Labour party published the prices for its allocation round 7 of the renewables auction. Labour used to say that renewables were nine times cheaper, but the prices that the Secretary of State has said he is willing to pay are 40% higher than the current cost of electricity—they are the highest prices in a decade—and he has extended the contract length to 20 years. Those are not just the prices that we will be paying; they are the prices that our children will be paying. Will the Minister explain how locking us into higher prices for longer will cut bills by £300?

[Martin McCluskey]

The right hon. Lady’s comparison is absolute nonsense, and she knows it. She compares the cost of building and operating new renewables, which is what the contract for difference relates to, with the cost of operating—not building—gas plants. Once we make a fair comparison, the truth is that renewables are cheaper to build. We will take no lessons on energy policy from the Conservative party, which abandoned its commitment to clean energy at its party conference.

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[Anna Sabine (Frome and East Somerset) (LD)]

22. What steps he is taking to reduce energy bills.

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

The Government believe that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect bill payers permanently. We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills while we transition to clean power. That is why we are expanding the warm home discount to around an additional 2.7 million households.

[Dr Chambers]

I recently visited St Bartholomew’s church in Hyde, which has served the residents of Winchester for over 915 years, as part of its Give to Go Green day, which raised £2,400 to support its efforts to decarbonise the church and reduce energy bills. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the congregation and the community volunteers for the leadership they are showing in this area, and will he outline what steps the Government are taking to support faith and community groups in decarbonising historic buildings while preserving their heritage?

[Martin McCluskey]

I join the hon. Gentleman in praising the whole congregation and community at St Bartholomew’s in Winchester for supporting those efforts. Such efforts by community and faith groups across the country show the support that exists for taking the right action, not just on clean power but on insulation. The warm homes plan and other plans that the Department will publish before the end of the year will address some of the issues he talks about in respect of historic buildings.

[Victoria Collins]

Carol from Harpenden is one of many constituents who are worried about energy costs. At 70, she stressed that she never imagined that she would have to scrimp and save in the way that she does just to get by. The warm home discount is a temporary lifeline, so will the Government commit to long-lasting solutions to end fuel poverty, including an emergency home upgrade programme that will include incentives to install heat pumps that cover real costs?

[Martin McCluskey]

We are currently consulting on extending the warm home discount beyond 2026. I would encourage the hon. Lady to look at that consultation and feed back her views. The warm homes plan is the route to some of the actions that she has outlined and we will be publishing it before the end of the year.

[Anna Sabine]

In my constituency of Frome and East Somerset, approximately 10% of households use oil central heating, compared with 5% nationally. Given the high volatility of oil prices, that places my constituents in a particularly difficult position as we approach the winter months. Will the Minister confirm what measures will be taken to ensure that homes that are reliant on oil heating can be heated more affordably, so that my constituents do not have to suffer unnecessarily?

[Martin McCluskey]

Since I became a Minister four weeks ago, I have received a lot of correspondence on this issue and I am looking at it closely. We have consulted on the issue and, hopefully, we will be publishing the results of that consultation before the end of the month.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

Half the battle to reach net zero is using less energy, which is why work to insulate homes is so important. Calder Valley is famous for “Happy Valley” and now “Riot Women”, and has occasionally been called wet and windy. With 75,000 of our homes falling below energy performance certificate band C, that means many families live in homes that leak heat. Today’s National Audit Office report found that in 98% of homes that had insulation installed under the last Government, the work was faulty, risking damp and mould. What action will this Government take to ensure that future insulation efforts help families, rather than hinder them?

[Martin McCluskey]

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the findings in today’s National Audit Office report. Obviously, we inherited this situation from the previous Government and we are cleaning up their mess. It is important that we have robust protections in place for consumers so that they have confidence when installing these measures. The warm homes plan will address that, including through the consumer protections that we will outline as part of it.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

The CBI says that one of the best routes to bringing down bills and delivering growth is investing in clean power jobs, including the 8,800 such jobs that we currently have in Tees Valley—a number that is scaling up every year. Does the Secretary of State agree that investing in these industries is one of the best ways to redevelop our region and to deliver jobs and growth years into the future?

[Martin McCluskey]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will come as a result of our sprint to clean power by 2030, not just in his constituency but across the entire country. What will not take us to those hundreds of thousands of jobs is the Conservative party abandoning its commitment to the Climate Change Act 2008. From hug a husky to burning the Climate Change Act—that is not the transition that we expected.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat party.

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

I welcome the new Ministers to their place—I look forward to working with them—and I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Minister for Energy on holding on to their posts, which we are glad to see.

One of the best ways to bring down household bills is to help homeowners and small businesses make their properties cheaper to warm and to power. The Liberal Democrats have put forward a plan to do that by introducing a windfall tax on the big banks, which have seen billions of pounds in unexpected profits as a result of the quantitative easing programme by the Bank of England more than a decade ago. Does the Secretary of State agree with the Liberal Democrats that we should instead use those excess profits to fund green affordable loans of up to £20,000 for households and up to £50,000 for businesses and community groups, and cut people’s power bills for good?

[Martin McCluskey]

Having been in this job for only four and half weeks, I am always in the market for good ideas, whichever part of the House they come from. The £13.2 billion warm homes plan will do exactly what the hon. Lady wants us to do—safely insulating homes and getting people to take the action we need them to take to achieve clean power 2030. Importantly, the plan will create homes, businesses and properties that are warm and affordable, powered by sustainable clean energy.

[Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. Climate change will have happened before you conclude.

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

Let me be absolutely clear: no family should ever have had to go through this. It happened because of the systematic failings of the system put in place by the previous Government, and we are cleaning up their mess. We will do that at no cost to consumers, and I am happy to meet the hon. Member to discuss any cases that he might have in his constituency.

[Kenneth Stevenson (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)]

T5.   In his letter to GB Energy’s CEO last month outlining his strategic priorities, the Secretary of State rightly stated that reindustrialising our industrial heartlands“with good jobs and strong trade union representation”goes hand in hand with tackling the climate crisis. Will he take the opportunity to reiterate that our investment in tackling the climate crisis and producing clean energy will deliver secure, long-term employment, and will be to the benefit of working people in Airdrie and Shotts and across the UK?

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[Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)]

T6. Ofgem’s latest 2% price cap rise means higher bills for millions of households this winter, with the average annual cost now over £1,700. For families who are already struggling, even a small increase can push them into hardship. While the expansion of the warm home discount to more than 6 million homes is welcome, standing charges have also risen and energy debt now exceeds £4.4 billion. Can the Minister outline what further targeted protections are planned for vulnerable households this winter? More broadly, what are the Government’s plans to bring down bills, especially for those on low incomes?

[Martin McCluskey]

As the Minister for Energy Consumers, I am totally focused on how we bring bills down. Ofgem has already released information about how it will be providing a low standing charge tariff from January. We will also publish the warm homes plan before the end of the year. The warm home discount, which I encourage my hon. Friend to encourage her constituents to apply for, is providing additional support to 2.7 million households.

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[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

Will the Minister confirm that there is now a timetable to ensure that everyone who has a radio teleswitch meter will have it replaced without losing their electricity, heating or hot water?

[Martin McCluskey]

Since taking up my post four weeks ago, I have been dealing with the issue of radio teleswitch. I am more than happy to meet the right hon. Member to discuss the plans, and will soon be organising a roundtable with Members on both sides of the House to discuss them further.