Oral Answers to Questions

Tristan Osborne Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

The hon. Member is completely right that our route out of this is through clean power, and we need to ensure that consumers and businesses feel the benefit through electrification. I reassure her that we have a strategy, and we are getting on with it. Through our warm homes plan, we are ensuring that homes and businesses across the country have access to solar and to clean heat. That will ensure that they benefit. We are clear that electrification is the way forward. Countries across Europe are watching the UK and seeing our progress, and we will run with it.

[Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)]

2. What steps she is taking to support households by helping reduce energy bills.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking to support households by helping reduce energy bills.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

We know that people are worried about rising energy bills when the cost of living is biting, and we know that we need to provide breathing space. That is why one of the first things that the Prime Minister did in the job was to scrap VAT on electricity bills. That is on top of the £150 that we took off the cost of energy. We are clear that the scale of what we are seeing requires us to make a concerted effort to get bills down. That is why we are running up clean energy to reduce our exposure to global fossil fuel markets and rolling out the warm homes plan so that we can upgrade our homes. Solar, batteries and clean heat can reduce bills by £600 to £800. Critically, we are determined to put the public back in control of an energy system that the Conservatives lost control of, so that it can work in the interest of consumers.

[Tristan Osborne]

In Snodland, in my constituency, Octopus Energy is working with social housing tenants to reduce energy bills and cut costs this winter. What more can the Government do, working with the private sector, to promote renewable technologies to reduce bills this winter?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is right to give the example of Octopus Energy in his constituency. Through the warm homes plan, we are investing record amounts—billions—in upgrading our homes, because we know that is a key route towards reducing bills. Solar batteries and clean heat insulation can save households between £600 and £800, and we are committed to devolving that to bring about a huge acceleration, street by street, area by area, and estate by estate. That is how we can drive down energy bills for good.