Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

As I said, individual projects have to go through the planning process and develop their proposals, but the Government have a preference for pylons, rather than undergrounding—the previous Government had exactly the same position—not least because undergrounding is four or five times more expensive, and it is consumers across the country who pay that additional cost. We are very clear that building the grid is absolutely critical to getting clean, cheaper power to people’s homes and businesses. It is a job that the previous Government never did, and that upgrade is now absolutely critical.

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to help reduce energy costs for businesses.

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

The Government recognise that energy costs remain a challenge for businesses across the country. Our British industrial competitiveness scheme, which is now open, will support over 10,000 businesses, cutting electricity costs by up to £40 per MWh. There is also the British industry supercharger’s enhanced support for our most electricity-intensive firms. We know that is not enough, and we are working across both my Departments to explore further options.

[Patrick Hurley]

I have been investigating the extraordinary differences in domestic electricity standing charges in regions of the country, and I am increasingly concerned that the same underlying network charging system may also be imposing substantially higher fixed costs on businesses in Merseyside and north Wales. Will the Minister ask Ofgem to investigate the impact of regional network charging on business competitiveness, as well as household bills?

[Blair McDougall]

As ever, my hon. Friend is a champion for business and industry in Southport. The short answer is yes, I will write to Ofgem on this matter, and I will share the response with my hon. Friend. In the meantime, I reassure him that Ofgem’s cost allocation and recovery review is considering how costs should be recovered from consumers, and the arrangements for recovering network costs.