Oral Answers to Questions

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Tuesday 18th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

12. What estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

13. What estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

[Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)]

16. What estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amanda Solloway]

I reiterate that we have been giving unprecedented support to domestic and non-domestic customers throughout this incredibly difficult situation, and we are making sure that we review the situation on an ongoing basis.

[Mr Dhesi]

At a time when many of my Slough constituents are struggling to pay their energy bills, oil and gas giants are raking in the windfalls of war, but the Prime Minister and his Government are too weak to stand up for the British people, and especially for the increasing number of households now living in fuel poverty. Energy efficiency measures are one of the best routes to tackling fuel poverty, but unfortunately not a penny of new money was announced in the Government’s relaunch just last month. Why is there such complacency when installation rates in 2020 were 20 times lower than in 2010?

[Amanda Solloway]

It has been estimated that without the additional support, a further 350,000 households in England would have been in fuel poverty in 2022. Energy efficiency improvements remain the best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term and contribute to long-term reductions in both energy bills and carbon emissions, in line with net zero.