John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Speaker
I listened with the very closest and most intense interest to the answer by the Minister, but if we could have slightly pithier answers from now on, it would aid us all greatly.
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)
The requirement for participants in the scheme to achieve a certain energy efficiency will work against people in rural houses with solid walls, who will find that difficult to achieve. Will the Minister say something about those people, who are often in fuel poverty?
Mr Speaker
Order. May I remind the House that Members who were not here at the start of this exchange should not expect to be called?
Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)
I understand the necessity of ensuring a sustainable scheme, but will the Minister assure me that the voices of small companies such as C. Gascoigne, a family-based electrical installation company in my constituency, will be heard as part of the consultation and that it will not be left just to the big companies to set the policy?
Gregory Barker
This may come as a surprise, but we have a team on this side of the House. I have been leading on this issue, and the Secretary of State is very happy for me to do so. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. This is not said pejoratively, but I have noticed that whenever the Minister is in the Chamber, Opposition Members seem to get very wound up and excited. I do not know whether it is his fault that he winds them up or their fault that they allow themselves to be wound up, but the House needs to calm down a little.
Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)
I appreciate that something had to be done about the overly large tariff subsidies, but Electrical and Testing Services in my constituency is worried about the speed of change. What advice and guidance will my hon. Friend give to small businesses so that they can get through the transition period without having to lose any staff?
Mr Speaker
Order. Members know that I like to accommodate urgent questions very fully, but today’s business faces substantial time pressure so I am afraid that we must now move on.