Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin McCluskey and Noah Law

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

9. 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)]

Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to other hon. Members.

I am proud that the Labour Government have extended the warm home discount to an extra 2.7 million households, extending the total to around 6 million. The Conservatives opposed that change. It will make a vital difference to so many families this winter, including approximately an additional 220,000 households in the south-west. That is almost double the number of households supported year on year.

[Noah Law]

I greatly welcome these cuts to forthcoming bills. Notwithstanding those potential improvements, many of my constituents in Roche, for example, live in areas not connected to the mains gas grid, and the initial outlay associated with implementing renewable technologies can be prohibitively expensive for people. Can the scope of the warm homes plan be extended so that areas rich in geological resources but exposed to fuel poverty, such as Roche, can benefit from geothermal heat networks and significantly reduce bills on the back of those cheap renewable sources?