Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nia Griffith and Robert Buckland

Wednesday 19th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir Robert Buckland]

It is a Conservative Government who, through Help to Buy, have helped more than 361,000 first-time buyers on to the housing ladder. It is a Conservative Government who led to unemployment at record lows. It is a Conservative Government who have increased the national living wage to £9.50 an hour. And it is a Conservative Government who will lead to interest rates being controlled, which will help mortgage holders, too. The hon. Gentleman’s hyperbole does not serve him well.

[Dame Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

6. What recent estimate he has made of the differential in domestic energy costs between Wales and the rest of the UK.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Sir Robert Buckland)]

Most recent data demonstrates that households in Wales pay a price broadly on par with the average across Great Britain for variable unit costs and standing charges for gas and electricity. Our energy price guarantee will save households hundreds of pounds this winter compared with current wholesale cost projections.

[Dame Nia Griffith]

My constituent Mr Evans in the town of Kidwelly cannot benefit from a lower tariff for the electricity he uses in off-peak times because, as the engineers have explained to him, the smart meter he needs will not function owing to the almost non-existent mobile phone signal in the area, which is due to the UK Government’s failure to roll out mobile phone technology, while allowing smart meters that work only on mobile phone signals. Will the Secretary of State now have urgent talks with ministerial colleagues to put it right and end this discrimination?

[Sir Robert Buckland]

I will be interested to take up that case in more detail with the hon. Lady. However, the Government, in acting radically on energy price intervention and with our Energy Prices Bill, which seeks to break the link between electricity and gas prices, are taking the sort of action that is absolutely necessary to help households such as her constituent. Of course, I will be happy to talk further about the particular disadvantage that her constituent faces.

European Union Bill

Debate between Nia Griffith and Robert Buckland

Monday 24th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nia Griffith]

I am saying that my constituents say that there is often detail to be considered before we can decide whether a change will have a major impact. In the Bill, there seems to be great confusion about what a power actually means. We do not seem to have clarity in the Bill. My constituents are saying, “This is the sort of work that you need to do. When you, in Parliament, can tell us whether you think an issue is significant the door is open for a referendum if that is what you think best.”

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

On the point about when the decision is made, will the hon. Lady enlighten me on the time scale over which the joint committee would report? It is part of a ratification procedure and there needs to be some defined time scale that I do not see in the amendment.

[Nia Griffith]

The hon. Gentleman raises a significant point. One difficulty about European legislation is that dealing with these issues often takes an enormous amount of time. Often, developments take place over a considerable amount of time whereas a referendum gives a snapshot of the mood of the country at one time. That might mean that people vote on different issues. It is important that the committee would have the opportunity to go through the issues and decide what is and what is not important. The hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do the situation in respect of Europe, what has to be decided and how it has to be ratified.

Independent Financial Advisers (Regulation)

Debate between Nia Griffith and Robert Buckland

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

I probably know some of the constituents to whom the hon. Lady has referred. Some of them have been in touch with me, as well as with my local independent financial advisers. In other professions, when it comes to continuing professional development and examinations, those who specialise concentrate on their specialities, and therefore undergo tests that relate to their experience. The problem with the RDR regime is that it is far too general. That puts people in a really difficult position, which is unfair.

[Nia Griffith]

My friend and compatriot is right. That is why those responsible refer such people to others. They know that they do not know everything; they know what they do know, and they know what they do not know. This is not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It is not about abandoning the system altogether. It is about getting it right: it is about having another look, and establishing whether there are ways of implementing the system that will make sense. We need an arrangement that will not create a time scale that is difficult to adhere to, will not depend on slots that are impossible to secure, and will not involve questions the answers to which people will not need to know in their professional lives. We need modifications to make the system much more manageable.