Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower
Simon Lightwood Excerpts(6 months, 1 week ago)
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Simon Lightwood (Wakefield) (Lab/Co-op)
Last year I delivered my maiden speech during debate on the Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Act 2022. It had taken seven long months of dither and delay for the Government finally to accept Labour’s calls for a windfall tax. Instead, they spent that time attacking us—proof that the Tories are out of touch. Months on, and we are still in the middle of a Conservative cost of living crisis: stagnant growth, soaring energy bills and skyrocketing mortgages. To tackle it, the Government have responded by announcing the fewest Bills in a state opening of Parliament for almost a decade—again, a Government who are out of touch.
The Tories have yet again doubled down on oil and gas licences as their solution, but that does nothing to fight the climate crisis, and even the Energy Secretary cannot say that it will bring bills down. Our communities have been hit harder than anywhere else in western Europe, and last summer the price of gas was nine times higher than that of renewables. To add to this, their ban on onshore wind, as well as their scrapping of the energy efficiency programme, has added hundreds of pounds to every family’s bills. The King’s Speech also made no mention of the community energy sector, which would build renewable energy capacity and put communities in control.
It is time we had cheaper energy bills and higher living standards, and that is what Labour’s plan for energy would deliver, establishing Great British Energy so that we can have clean and cheap power produced in Britain; starting a national warm homes plan to insulate millions of homes across the country; and tearing down the barriers to clean power in our communities. Those measures will create high-skilled and well-paid jobs, such as over 19,000 jobs upgrading homes in Yorkshire and the Humber alone. That is exactly the type of investment—with jobs—that our communities are crying out for, to bring long-term growth to our towns and cities.
On that note, the King’s Speech referred to regenerating our towns, but the Government did not announce any legislation to get on with the job. Does the Prime Minister really think that the people of Wakefield will trust him after his track record in office—“Hunger Games”-style funding pots, pitting town against town; services that continue to be cut to the bone, with more cuts; and money being handed out so late and inefficiently that not a single council in the north could spend all their shared prosperity funding? These sticking-plaster funding pots do not deliver the long-term change that we need in our town centres. We must replace the business rates system and level the playing field between online corporations and the small traders who are the beating heart of our high streets. That is the difference a Labour Government would make.
That cannot be done without people feeling safe on our streets, but serious violent crime has risen. I recently went on patrol with the hard-working policing team in Wakefield city centre to see at first hand the challenges they face. Antisocial behaviour in Ossett and Wakefield has seen buses diverted and passengers left stranded, and constituents reach out to me all the time to say they are not seeing enough police officers on the streets. That is the Tory record on crime and antisocial behaviour.
As I mentioned in my maiden speech last year, the shockingly high levels of sexual assault and violence are being made worse by the abject failure of our criminal justice system under this Government. The proposed sentencing Bill cannot work if victims—including many of my constituents—are having to wait months, if not years, for justice to be served. Some rape victims heard a senior judge saying that their perpetrators may have to stay on bail because our prisons are too full. This is a Government with the wrong priorities, failing to protect our communities.
To conclude, last June the voters of Wakefield sent a message to Boris Johnson that they had simply had enough. Over the last year, voters from Tadcaster to Tamworth have agreed with that verdict, and they have voted overwhelmingly for a fresh start with Labour. Instead, we face a zombie Government who have so little to offer the public that they sent MPs home early on half of all sitting days in the last Session. They really are the dementors of British politics, sucking the life out of this mother of all Parliaments, draining the hopes and aspiration of our great country over the past 13 long years. This is a King’s Speech from a Government who are out of energy, out of ideas and out of time. The British people have had enough. Change is coming.
Reaching Net Zero: Local Government Role
Simon Lightwood Excerpts(11 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Simon Lightwood (Wakefield) (Lab/Co-op)
The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s report on this topic in October 2021 made it clear that the UK will struggle to meet its aim of reaching net zero by 2050 unless central and local government work together. As a former councillor, I know how important councils and combined authorities are to delivering net zero. The Climate Change Committee said:
“Local authorities have powers or influence over roughly a third of emissions in their local areas”.
I have to say it felt a little as though the Government were passing the buck when they estimated that 82% of emissions were under council influence. They have never explained how they came up with that figure. Despite their rhetoric, they have not implemented any statutory targets for councils on this issue.
It is true that most councils have approved some net zero commitments, or, like Wakefield Council, have declared a climate emergency. In Wakefield, the Labour council has made climate change a core function of its operations, and has a dedicated team working on projects relating to it. It has invested millions in replacing much of its fleet with electric cars and vans, and work is well under way to replace nearly 45,000 streetlights with LEDs, in order to reduce its energy consumption by 80%. Some 100,000 trees have been planted through a partnership with the White Rose forest. The council is also looking at building solar parks, which could provide renewable energy, enhance biodiversity, give rise to training opportunities and provide new, green jobs. The list of positive actions goes on. All that is being done to drive the change necessary to become a carbon-neutral council by 2030, and to help the entire district to be carbon-neutral by 2038.
Not every authority is like Wakefield. Some councils have not adopted proper plans, and that is holding us all back. I ask the Minister: what are the Government doing to encourage more climate change action plans? Labour recognises the important role that local government has in this fight, and that is why empowering our towns, cities and regions is at the heart of our plans. We will consult on Gordon Brown’s commission on giving local leaders more financial autonomy and longer-term funding settlements—powers that the Local Government Association has been asking for—to help deliver net zero. We will also transfer more powers over skills, transport and planning to local leaders, which would be a game changer. Councils will be at the forefront of delivering Labour’s warm home plan; they will help to roll out our street-by-street retrofit programme, which will not only slash energy bills but help in our fight for net zero.
I am pleased that Wakefield Council is showing such leadership in this area, having brought forward its climate change action plan and backed it up with clear actions and investment. Now we need a Labour Government who will not only talk the talk but deliver the real change that we need, and give local government the powers and support that it needs to accelerate net zero.
Oral Answers to Questions
Simon Lightwood Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Simon Lightwood (Wakefield) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Amanda Solloway)
The energy price guarantee has been supporting households and will continue to do so from April ’23 by limiting the amount that suppliers can charge per unit of energy used.
Simon Lightwood
The latest figures from 2020 show that, in parts of Lupset and Thornes in my constituency, more than two in five households were in fuel poverty. People are being left unable to heat their homes, have a shower or cook a hot meal. Since 2020, fuel poverty has continued to rise and the crisis has only got worse. Can the Minister explain to my constituents what is fair about those in fuel poverty facing even higher bills, when wholesale gas costs are falling and energy companies’ profits are continuing to rise?
Amanda Solloway
The Government announced in the autumn statement that the energy price guarantee will continue from April ’23. An analysis for 2022, which was published today, shows that 350,000 households in England were kept out of fuel poverty as a result of the support offered to households with energy bills.