Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Gethins and Martin McCluskey(1 day, 18 hours ago)
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Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)
The Government know that energy bills in Scotland remain too high. That is why we are fighting the consumer’s corner. The action we took at the Budget will ensure that from April the price cap will fall by 7%, or £117, which is fixed until the end of June. That is in addition to support offered to vulnerable heating oil customers in Scotland and the expansion of the warm home discount, which means £92 million in annual funding for Scottish consumers.
Stephen Gethins
Scotland is one of the most energy-rich countries in Europe, and the Treasury and the UK Government have benefited to the tune of hundreds of billions as revenues have flowed in over the years, yet bill payers in Scotland pay among the highest prices in Europe. Labour promised that bills would be hundreds of pounds lower than they are now, yet two years in they follow the failure of successive Westminster Governments in terms of resilience and bills. Would Scotland not be better off looking after its own energy resource?
Martin McCluskey
Bills are going down by 7% from next week. We do not need to imagine a future with independence and what would happen with the SNP in power. Let us look at the record. The hon. Member’s party promised a publicly owned energy company six years ago; we delivered Great British Energy within 18 months. His party scrapped fuel poverty targets; we are lifting 1 million households out of fuel poverty by the end of this Parliament. While his party in government in Scotland abandoned the heat in buildings Bill, this Government are making the biggest ever upgrade to home efficiency through the warm homes plan, with £15 billion of spending.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Gethins and Martin McCluskey(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Martin McCluskey
We are taking action through the warm home discount, which is being provided to an extra 2.7 million households across the country, and the warm homes plan, which we will roll out before the end of the year.
Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)
High and volatile energy prices are bad for growth, take money out of consumers’ pockets and make our businesses less competitive. Through our mission to achieve clean power by 2030, we are taking the country off the rollercoaster of global fossil fuel prices and have set a route to home-grown cheap and greener energy.
Stephen Gethins
The Minister and I come from one of the most energy-rich parts of Europe, yet its consumers have among the highest energy bills in Europe. That drives up fuel poverty and hits the cost of living crisis. He will be aware of that. Labour promised to bring down bills by £300; they will have gone up by about the same amount. Does the Minister understand why people are so frustrated with the Government?
Martin McCluskey
Like the hon. Member, I understand people’s frustration when they look at their energy bills each month. [Interruption.] That promise stands. That is why we are taking concerted action through the warm home discount, which is providing 2.7 million households with support this winter, and the warm homes plan, which we will roll out this year.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Gethins and Martin McCluskey(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Martin McCluskey
We will take absolutely no lessons on employment rights from the Conservative party, which left us with a £22 billion black hole in the public finances that we are having to pick up. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor will address that in a moment.
Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
I join the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) in congratulating the hon. Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) on the birth of his daughter. On the demographic challenge, just before the election the Scottish Labour deputy leader said
“there is something we can do to incentivise”
more people to come to Scotland. In terms of employment in Scotland, have the Secretary of State and colleagues sat down with the Home Office to discuss encouraging more migration?
Martin McCluskey
The Government will work closely with the Migration Advisory Committee. We welcome the contribution that migrants make to the economy, but we will take no lessons from a party that has consistently said that the positive destination for people in Scotland is a zero-hours contract, and whose Members sat on their hands last night when we dealt with the Great British Energy Bill.
Stephen Gethins
Let me try to challenge the hon. Member. In a spirit of collegiality, the UK Government have committed to working with the Scottish Government. The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton), who is in his place, has said:
“When it comes to immigration policy one size does not fit all. It shouldn’t be beyond us to devise ways to attract more people to work and settle here.”
Will the Minister confirm that the Scottish and UK Governments should work together, and will he commit to a meeting between the Governments so that we can take forward the idea of more migration to Scotland, which the Labour party committed to and we committed to, and business is crying out for?
Martin McCluskey
We have committed to Scottish representation on the Migration Advisory Committee, which would go a long way to dealing with these issues, but it is for the Scottish Government to do things like build houses in areas where we need more migration in order to encourage people to come to live in Scotland.