Energy Costs in Wales

Ruth Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Westminster Hall

[Ruth Jones (Newport West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Betts. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak briefly today. I congratulate my near constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Anna McMorrin), on calling this important debate.

Although we have seen a new Prime Minister appointed in recent weeks, when it comes to this 12-year-old Tory Government it is the same old story. Like people throughout Wales and the United Kingdom, the people of Newport West are looking for proper action to support them as they face rising energy costs. There is nothing new about the Tory fantasy of trickle-down economics, and there is nothing new about a Tory who, when asked “Who pays?”, answers “You: the working people of Britain.”

In her first Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister said she was against a windfall tax, as she did during her leadership campaign, during that wasteful summer of inward-looking Tory politics. My constituents want to know why the Prime Minister remains so committed to protecting the £170 billion of excess profits of the oil and gas giants—profits that they did not expect and that the companies have actually suggested should be used to mitigate the effects of this energy and cost of living crisis. Because of the Prime Minister’s decision, the people of Newport West and others throughout the country will now have to pay the bill for this Tory cost of living crisis.

It is worth remembering what the former Chancellor, Mr Osborne, said in 2008: that profligate borrowing could provoke a run on sterling, or require a rise in interest rates that would plunge Britain deeper into recession. I think some chickens are coming home to roost now.

I recently had a call from a constituent—a retired colliery worker—in Bassaleg. Like so many in Newport West, he has paid his taxes and never missed a bill. However, as we approach winter, the rising cost of energy is putting a serious strain on his finances. He told my team that it is simply not fair that ordinary people are being forced to foot the bill while the energy companies laugh all the way to the bank, saying:

“My monthly direct debit has just gone from £166 to £320. We are a two adult, two children family on average wages and are not able to handle such huge hikes in bills. Would appreciate it if you could look to address or mitigate this for us as a community.”

That is why I am here today.

If the average family in Newport West are seeing a doubling of utility bills, our country and our economy are in for some very difficult months ahead. That sits at the door of this Government. Rather than taking real action to pay for proper support, they have simply shifted the bill on to working people. When families and public services need every penny they can get, our Prime Minister, with the same old agenda, seems to think that now is the right time to protect Shell’s excess profits and give Amazon a tax cut. I say to the Minister: it is not. It is time for the Government to lead, to act and to properly support those most in need.

Over recent months, I have worked with local people on the issue of energy payment rebates for park home residents, as mentioned by the right hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns). I have received a significant amount of correspondence from residents in Lighthouse caravan park in Newport West, and have worked with local people to clarify whether people in park homes would be able to benefit from any UK Government support schemes. My concern was and remains that there is no comprehensive and co-ordinated approach for all who need help to heat their homes and pay their bills. I have just been sitting in the Chamber listening to the Chancellor answer a question on that very subject, but sadly his answer was more confusion and uncertainty, and I am no better off now.

That confusion stands in stark contrast to the action of the Welsh Government. I welcome the Welsh Government fuel support scheme, and many people in Newport West do too. Eligible households can claim a one-off £200 cash payment from their local authority to provide support towards paying fuel bills. Importantly, that is in addition to the winter fuel payment offered by the UK Government. The payment will be available to all eligible energy customers, regardless of how they pay for fuel. That includes those who make payments on a prepayment meter by direct debit, those who pay quarterly and those who use off-grid fuel.

The scheme is part of the Welsh Labour Government’s £90 million support package to address immediate pressures on living costs. The fuel support scheme was launched with the explicit aim of reducing the impact of the rising cost of energy and the cost of living crisis. It is targeted at low-income households, and the number of households that are eligible and in need of help is to be extended.

We know that the winter months can be the most difficult time of the year. Like the Welsh Labour Government, I do not believe that families in Newport West or any other part of the United Kingdom should have to choose between heating and eating.

[Jonathan Edwards]

Can I take the hon. Lady back to the windfall tax? I do not think a windfall tax would pay for all the energy schemes, but it would definitely make a significant contribution to the public intervention that will be required. The reality is that even the oil executives are mildly in favour of it: BP announced a few months ago that a windfall tax would not make any difference to its investment plans over the next 10, 15 and 20 years.

[Ruth Jones]

The hon. Gentleman puts it far more eloquently than me. Absolutely—these people are actively saying, “These are excess profits that we did not expect, so they should be used to mitigate the problem.”

I say to residents in Newport West and across Wales that the Welsh Government’s scheme is open to households in which the applicant or their partner is in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits at any time between 1 September 2022 and 31 January 2023. Folks in Newport West can get in touch with my office if they want or need support with the application process.

If we are expecting working people out in the country to tighten their belts, I urge Ministers to wake up and make sure the oil and gas companies pay their share too. That is what we are here to do, and if the Government do not want to do that, they should make way for a Labour Government who will.