Oral Answers to Questions

Polly Billington Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jerome Mayhew]

Fuel prices are through the roof, but it is okay because the Prime Minister says that he gets it. He has tweeted,

“I won’t accept that there’s nothing I can do to help”,

and he has proved it by pointing to a forecourt price comparison app. What he did not mention was that his Government are adding VAT on top of those price increases. That is a windfall of £2 billion to £3 billion. If the Prime Minister gets it, why is he adding 20% to the misery of motorists?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ms Polly Billington)]

In fact, the fuel finder it is a good way of ensuring that people have the transparency that is required for the market to really work. The Competition and Markets Authority has found that, fundamentally, the market works competitively, but if anybody finds anything that they suspect to be price gouging, they should report it to the CMA. I would also like to point out that we have frozen fuel duty. Diesel, for example, is £11 cheaper than it would have been under the previous Government before 2024. It is important for Conservative Members to remember that we are doing what we can to bear down on the cost to the motorist and to ensure that the market works as transparently as possible.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T2. The Wat Tyler is a historic 15th-century pub in Dartford town centre. Jemal Akkus, the owner, recently contacted me because he wants to get his energy bills down and increase the energy efficiency of the building. Can the Minister help me to help him, by outlining what support might be available to Jemal and the Wat Tyler to do just that?

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[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

T3. Families on the Isle of Wight were interested to hear the Prime Minister wanting to do his bit to help by telling us where we could buy cheaper fuel at the forecourt via the fuel finder app. Our interest waned somewhat when we discovered that the cheaper fuel was available in Portsmouth, which involves a two-hour round trip on a ferry. Does the Minister accept that this is a city-focused Prime Minister leading a city-focused Government who do not understand the realities of life in rural and coastal communities, including high energy costs?

[Ms Billington]

As a fellow coastal MP, I absolutely rebut the hon. Gentleman’s idea that this Government do not understand coastal or rural communities. I accept the challenges he found with the fuel finder for the Isle of Wight, and we need to ensure that full transparency also extends to making sure that the cheapest fuel possible is available in all communities. I would like to point out, however, that many of his residents will benefit from the announcement we made today on the regulation of heating oil. Off-grid heating oil has, until now, not benefited from regulation; now it will do.

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

T5. This summer saw the first hosepipe ban imposed by Essex and Suffolk Water on my constituency since 1997. However, some Opposition Members would deny that what we are seeing is a result of climate change. Does the Minister agree that the weather we saw this summer is evidence enough that the work towards net zero must continue as a priority for this Government?

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[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

Can the Secretary of State assure me that those people who are off-grid—they are prevalent in my constituency—are at the heart of the Government’s thinking with regard to energy support? While I welcome regulation on heating oil, which has spiralled in price, it is not clear that regulation alone will bring down prices. Therefore, if the Chancellor is to give energy support, can off-grid be part of that?

[Ms Billington]

I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman represents one of the most rural parts of the country, and the fact that we have allocated £53 million to help the most vulnerable people across the UK is very important. Some £4.6 million has been given to the Scottish Government, and it is important that they get that money out of the door in order to help the most vulnerable people in his constituency and many others across Scotland.

[Alex Mayer (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)]

I recently met Paul Hughes, who proudly showed me his AI-enabled heat battery boiler. I am delighted that the Government have made that tech eligible for the boiler upgrade scheme. Would the Minister consider speaking to Treasury colleagues about this technology being part of the energy-saving materials VAT relief framework?

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[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

I welcome the announcement today about the Government’s intention to regulate the market in heating oil. For communities like mine that are completely off the gas grid, with the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country, this could be a significant moment. What my constituents would like to know, however, is when they might see this proposal become an implemented reality.

[Ms Billington]

It is important to make it clear what kind of proposals we are considering taking forward. This is about working with the regulators and industry to ensure we have a proportionate regulatory regime and stronger protections for consumers, and that we develop a robust evidence-based framework. We will work with the industry to strengthen consumer protections in the codes of conduct, and we will review industry practices, which currently set minimum order volumes at 500 litres for some customers. We will raise the awareness of payment plans to ensure that customers have the right options available to them. We want to get this right, and that is why we will work with the industry and consumer organisations to ensure that the regulatory framework really makes a difference for consumers in the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency and across the country.

[Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme) (Lab)]

I am proud to stand behind a Government who are taking climate action seriously. However, we are already overshooting critical limits, and climate change will only get worse if we do not stop burning fossil fuels. Will the full direct climate impact of Rosebank and the implications of the international community’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels be considered in making this decision?

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[Markus Campbell-Savours (Penrith and Solway) (Lab)]

Last year, some of us warned that distributing heating oil support through local authorities carried risks, with some councils imposing strict means tests that help too few and others setting limited criteria, meaning nearly all applicants were successful but got very little and then blamed the Government for insufficient support. In Cumbria, that is exactly what happened. What more can the Secretary of State do to ensure that the right people receive the right level of support?

[Ms Billington]

My hon. Friend is right that local authorities—in England, in particular—are the ones making the decisions about how they use the crisis and resilience fund money allocated to them in order to support heating-oil households. However, they should be on notice from us. If councils have been allocated money for their crisis and resilience fund in order to support vulnerable households that use heating oil, those councils should be creating criteria so that affected households can access the fund.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

Earlier this year, Lindsey oil refinery in my constituency ceased production, creating job losses and meaning that a greater proportion of our diesel products have to be imported at greater cost. Do Ministers now regret not giving additional support to the continuation of production there?