State of Climate and Nature

Sarah Owen Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Member asked a complex question, so I might volunteer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to write to him on that, so that we get it right. I know—because he was whispering the answer to me—that he takes this seriously.

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State not just for his statement today, but for his continued commitment to tackling the climate and nature crisis facing us. He said that this is something we must all tackle together, and there are huge parts of our communities, the faith communities, that want to do exactly that. While we welcome Great British Energy’s roll-out of solar panels on hospitals and on schools, can he outline any support that is available for religious buildings that want to do the same?

Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Owen Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

The right hon. Gentleman, as so often, is absolutely right; this is a real issue. We have Nick Winser working on the transmission system and he will report next month. On the distribution level, to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, we will be coming up with a connections plan later this year and working with Ofgem to make sure that we have a system that weeds out projects that are clogging up the system and yet will never be delivered, and make sure that the ones that can be delivered get to the front of the queue.

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)]

16. What recent estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

20. What recent estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

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

In 2022 there were an estimated 3.26 million households—13.4%—in fuel poverty in England. The Government recognise how difficult the increase in fuel bills, caused by Putin’s war in Ukraine, has been for households across the country.

[Sarah Owen]

Recent figures show that energy companies such as Shell make £61,000 a minute. Meanwhile, there are families—13,255 families in Luton—living in fuel poverty. I also have pensioners in Luton suffering from chronic health conditions who are risking their health because they cannot afford to put on the heating. The Minister could take action on fuel prices by extending the windfall tax and closing loopholes, so why has she not done so? We do not want any more flim-flam answers. The public are not buying it, the people in Luton North are not buying it, and I am not buying it.

[Amanda Solloway]

The Government have applied a levy on these energy companies, but the really important thing is the work that we have been doing with those households. We have been giving a lot of support and ensuring that we do the very best for all of those people. In addition, on Thursday 31 May we are launching our “Claim your energy voucher” day, and it is really important that all those on prepayment meters do claim their vouchers.