Tulip Siddiq
Main Page: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)(9 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Amber Rudd
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his new role. Our position is that subsidies are supposed to be temporary. That is why I set out a plan yesterday to reduce the subsidy for offshore wind. The industry is happy to engage with us on that basis. We will set caps with it and, I hope, deliver offshore wind with it at a lower price than has been achieved before. On the other subsidies that he mentioned, we are making sure that we deliver a balance. There has been woeful underinvestment in infrastructure over recent decades. Under Labour, no nuclear power station was commissioned, which was a disgrace. We will move forward with a secure supply of electricity.
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) (Lab)
6. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s spending on energy efficiency schemes in reducing fuel poverty.
Judith Cummins (Bradford South) (Lab)
18. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s spending on energy efficiency schemes in reducing fuel poverty.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom)
From 2013 to the end of August this year, the energy company obligation had installed about 887,000 energy efficiency measures in more than 700,000 households on low incomes or in deprived areas. We are clear that the support should go to those in the greatest need.
Tulip Siddiq
I thank the Minister for her answer, but the huge drop in the installation of energy efficiency measures over recent years gives me no confidence that the Government are taking the scandal of fuel poverty seriously. Research by the Association for the Conservation of Energy has shown that the installation of energy efficiency measures dropped by a staggering 65% between 2012-13 and 2014-15. What steps is the Minister taking to reverse that shocking trend?
Andrea Leadsom
We are proud to have achieved more than 887,000 measures on energy efficiency. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said yesterday, we will redirect our ECO budget in the coming years towards those in greatest need and those who are suffering from the worst impacts of living in cold, damp or drafty homes.