Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Miatta Fahnbulleh and Lindsay Hoyle(6 days, 5 hours ago)
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
My hon. Friend is completely right. Too many people cannot afford their energy bills—[Interruption.] That is your legacy. That is why we are running to deliver clean energy by 2030 and rolling out our warm homes plan, so that we can upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
The Secretary of State, the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Consumers have all said in this House that the National Energy System Operator’s report shows that the Government’s 2030 target will lower energy bills. However, the report itself explicitly says that it does not do so, and the chief executive officer of the NESO told the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee last week that it “did not set out” to determine “what bills are for consumers.” Will the Minister explain those inconsistencies and take the opportunity to correct the record?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
We know that the quality of too many of our homes in the private rented sector is not high enough. That is why we are moving forward to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards, so that we can raise those standards, lifting 1 million people out of fuel poverty. We are running in order to get that done.
Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)
After the Conservative Government’s failure to tackle insulation, fuel poverty is on the rise. In my constituency, almost 20% of households with young family members—those between five and 10 years—are fuel poor, living in cold, damp houses and choosing between eating and heating. While we await the warm homes plan that will deal with upgrading current housing stock, will the Minister meet the Minister for Housing and Planning to ensure that all future homes will come forward with an energy rating that is a minimum of C or higher, but not beyond 2025 for the future homes standard?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Miatta Fahnbulleh and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
We will work across the country to tackle fuel poverty, but I remind the hon. Member that fuel payments are devolved. The Scottish Government have been given the biggest budget, and it is time to get on with the job and fix the situation.
Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)
Homes in the UK are among the least energy-efficient in Europe, with unparalleled health, productivity and carbon emission costs to society, as a result of the last Government’s failure to act. I agree with the Minister: it is a disgrace that this is happening in one of the largest economies in the G7. We welcome the news of the warm homes plan coming next year, but does the Minister agree that an emergency home insulation programme this winter, with free insulation for people on low incomes, is necessary so that people in South Cambridgeshire do not have to face the choice between heating and eating?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Miatta Fahnbulleh and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
We see local and regional government playing an absolutely fundamental role to reach homes that we need to upgrade, but also to help us deliver the scale of ambition we want. Local and regional government will be a key part of our warm homes plan.
Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)
Keeping vulnerable people warm and lowering their energy bills is, I am sure, something we can all agree on across the House. Insulating homes is a key part of that puzzle. We welcome the news that we will see the warm homes plan in spring. However, does the Minister agree that ahead of this winter we need an emergency home insulation plan, particularly for the vulnerable, along with allocated funding? Does she have any idea of the amount and allocation of funding in this Parliament that there will be for insulating homes?