Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Hepburn and Ed Davey

Thursday 3rd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) (Lab)]

16. What steps he is taking to help households with their energy bills.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)]

There are three main actions we are taking to help households with energy bills, including direct financial help, improving competition and energy efficiency. With direct financial help, the coalition introduced the warm home discount, which will take £140 off the energy bills of over 2 million of the poorest households this year. We permanently trebled cold weather payments, and we continue to spend over £2 billion a year on winter fuel payments. Last December, we reviewed Government policy costs, to take an average of £50 a year off a household’s bill.

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[Mr Davey]

Because many of those constituents will benefit from the policies we are already implementing and many will be able to get much greater benefits in reduced bills by switching, using the increased competition this Government have made possible.

[Mr Hepburn]

Since the Tories privatised the energy companies, things have got worse, with more than 6 million households now behind on their bills. When will the Government stop tweaking prices in the energy sector and take on the energy giants that are making billions at the expense of ordinary people in this country?

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Gentleman really is suffering from amnesia. There was a 13-year period in which Labour could have done something about that and failed. In fact, Labour took price controls off. The leader of the hon. Gentleman’s party refused to refer the energy markets to the Competition Commission; this Government have done that.