Energy Bill [Lords]

Simon Wright Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Lucas]

I thank the Minister for his intervention. I hope he will allow me to explain my proposal. It would mean that for at least the first three years the ECO would be used for the low-income and vulnerable families that live in hard-to-heat homes. As about 40% of the low-income and vulnerable households do live in such homes, I am confident that if the revenues from the ECO were focused on that group of people, we would have a much greater uptake of solid-wall insulation and the price would come down far more quickly. If we were to use the bulk of the ECO to go house to house or street by street to some of the poorest, most vulnerable people, I believe it would have a far better environmental impact than sitting back and allowing market forces to see who happens to ring up the advice line to say, “By the way, I’m living in poverty in a hard-to-treat home, so could I have some support from the ECO?” What I am suggesting would be better for dealing with fuel poverty and also better for the environment—the figures suggesting that do stack up.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Was the three-year time scale you mentioned the period over which you envisage this £2.5 billion to £4 billion ECO operating? If not, what time scale are you looking at for the generation and use of the ECO in this way?

[Caroline Lucas]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I think he is asking me whether, over those three years, I envisage a pot of money of between £2.5 billion and £4 billion, replenished on an annual basis, being used only for these low-income and vulnerable households. If that was the question, the answer is yes.

[Simon Wright]

For how much longer, then, will it go on for the groups that your all-party parliamentary group spoke up for? Is a 10-year programme envisaged for that level of investment? Do you have a longer time scale in mind?

[Caroline Lucas]

rose—