Science and Technology Committee

Sarah Newton Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)]

I am spoilt for choice. I call Sarah Newton.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

As both a former member of the Science and Technology Committee and a member of the Conservative Environment Network, I very much welcome this report. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that reducing emissions from people heating their homes is not only good for our climate change targets, but will reduce costs for people and enable us to end the scourge of fuel poverty?

[Norman Lamb]

The hon. Lady makes an absolutely central point that is a real win-win. We can achieve the essential decarbonisation of our economy by confronting the problem of how we heat our buildings, particularly our homes, but we can also achieve affordable housing. We often talk about affordable housing and the vital need to increase access to it, but housing is not affordable unless energy is cheap. We have the potential to minimise and, indeed, to eradicate the cost of energy in our homes if only we were to follow the objectives set out in this report.