Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin McCluskey and Gagan Mohindra

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce household energy bills.

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

We recognise that the latest price cap that has been announced will be deeply concerning for households, many of whom were already struggling before the Iran crisis hit. That is why the Government have already taken action. We have taken £150 of costs off energy bills, extended the warm home discount to nearly 6 million families and provided over £50 million of immediate support for vulnerable customers who use heating oil. We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation closely ahead of winter and stand ready to take action.

--- Later in debate ---

[Martin McCluskey]

The hon. Gentleman’s constituents in Leicester will benefit from the decisions that we have already made. Those decisions take £150 off energy costs and extend the warm home discount and the warm homes plan, providing £15 billion of support. We are delinking and we are already taking action, as the Secretary of State announced last month. Ofgem has pointed out that although last week wholesale gas prices at the price cap went up by 24%, electricity went up by 5%. As it said:

“This reflects the increase in the amount of renewable generation on the system and therefore reduced reliance on gas”.

[Mr Mohindra]

In my constituency, 3,199 households currently experience fuel poverty due to high energy costs, and costs linked to the Government’s clean energy agenda could mean that household bills are set to rise by at least £100 in the next four years. How long will hard-working families in South West Hertfordshire have to pay the price for Labour’s ideological dash away from domestic energy production until it has a credible plan to fill the gaps in its energy policy?

[Martin McCluskey]

That comes from a member of a party that learned no lessons from the last energy crisis. We will not make the same mistakes, which is why we are investing in clean power by 2030, which will drive down bills. Only today, we have seen the jobs benefit from the investment in clean energy, supporting 1.1 million jobs, 22,000 small businesses and £105 billion for our economy.