Martin McCluskey MP: speeches 2026

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Speeches

16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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This Government will not stand for any profiteering in the system. That is why the Chancellor and the Secretary of State brought the petrol retailers in last week, for example, to make that abundantly clear to them. We have also made it abundantly clear to the representatives of the heating oil industry. When it comes to the electricity and gas suppliers, we took action through the Budget last year to remove costs from energy bills and reduce energy costs by 7% from April. We will cut no corners in holding companies to account where we think there is any sense of profiteering or manipulation of price. That is what the CMA is examining for us, and that is why we will examine what it comes forward with for the heating oil industry and decide whether there is a need for regulation.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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My priority, and that of the Government, in dealing with the situation in the middle east has been to come forward as quickly as possible with support, which today we can guarantee will be available for those on heating oil from 1 April. For constituents who do not use heating oil, electricity and gas prices will reduce on 1 April by 7%. We will keep the situation under review. It is fast moving. Three weeks ago, we would not have thought that we would be in the situation we are in today. We will keep the matter under review, but our priority has been to get this money to the people who need it as quickly as possible.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments and her advocacy for her constituents. The £3.8 million being provided to Wales reflects the fact that Wales—especially west Wales—has significant numbers of heating oil-fuelled homes. I will write to her on support for farmers more generally. This is obviously a very fast-moving situation. Our priority at the moment is to ensure that householders get the support that they need for heating oil. As I said, the Minister for Industry is considering issues in the non-domestic sector, which will be relevant to my hon. Friend’s farming constituents.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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No one should have to face the kind of situation that the hon. Lady has just described, which is why we are coming forward today with support. That additional funding will be available through the crisis and resilience fund from 1 April. However, as I said in response to an earlier question, constituents can already go to their local authority, and we are giving clear guidance to local authorities on the support that they can offer today, and we are expanding some of the guidelines for the existing funds to make it clear that they can provide support for people on heating oil and LPG. On the hon. Lady’s latter point on regulation, as I have said, the CMA is investigating this. There are clearly issues in the heating oil market, as we can see in what has happened over the past couple of weeks. That is why we have asked the CMA to look at that. It has agreed and we will study its conclusions and come forward if necessary with regulation.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I can give my hon. Friend that assurance, and the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness has written today to the leaders of councils in areas that are receiving additional funding to make this clear.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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The CMA is considering these issues, and we will examine its conclusions carefully. I will write to my hon. Friend about LPG and the CMA’s examination of it, which I hope will provide her with the reassurance that she needs.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I will answer the hon. Gentleman. We have supplied £4.6 million of funding today. He rolls his eyes, but his constituents and many others across Scotland will look at him askance for doing so. This is support for people, and it is now for the Scottish Government to come forward with how they are going to ensure that the money reaches the pockets of people across Scotland.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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We inherited a number of areas in the energy sector that were unregulated. This is one of them, which is why we are putting focusing so much on it, and we will study the CMA’s conclusions when they come forward.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend was one of the first people to come to me with concerns around the heating oil situation in his constituency. The Minister for Energy had these discussions with the Scottish Government towards the end of last week, and I will have further such discussions over the next few days. I would hope that the Scottish Government take as wide an interpretation around their crisis funding as this Government have about England, and ensure that it is made clear to local authorities that the support is available for those on heating oil and those on liquefied petroleum gas. How the devolved Governments distribute those funds is, obviously, a matter for them.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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The situation that the hon. Gentleman describes for his constituents is clearly intolerable. That is why we are looking with the CMA at the case for regulation in this market—it is clearly not working in the way that it should. On the crisis and resilience fund, more than £800 million has already been allocated through the spending review, and today we have added just over £50 million to the fund. This funding will be made at the discretion of local authorities, and we have written today to leaders of local authorities detailing the additional funding that will be available to them.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I can confirm that LPG is included in the package, and guidance will be provided to local authorities to make it clear that it is for LPG as well as for heating oil. My hon. Friend referred to medically vulnerable people. They are eligible under the existing household support fund and the crisis and resilience fund if they fall into crisis. There is still a lot more that we have to do for people who are medically vulnerable. That is why the Government are taking action to look at how data can be better shared in order to ensure that medically vulnerable people can receive the support they need.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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The additional top-up funds will be available through the crisis and resilience fund from 1 April. What I say to my hon. Friend’s constituents and those of all other hon. Members is that they should contact their local authorities today if there is an issue so that, either now or after 1 April, they will be able to take advantage of that support.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for her comments on the need to transition as quickly as possible. Through this crisis we have seen the volatility that this country is exposed to because of our reliance on fossil fuels. For the sake of people across the country, we cannot allow that to continue. On regulation, we have had discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority, which has set out what it is looking at in terms of the heating oil market. It will come forward with recommendations and a report, which we will study carefully to determine the need for regulation.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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The recent warm homes plan talks about listed buildings. We are working with many heritage organisations to assist with retrofit. I recently visited Saltaire in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) and viewed some excellent examples of historic buildings, which demonstrated that they can be retrofitted to just as high a standard as modern buildings.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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Our priority has been to ensure that support reaches people as quickly as possible. That is why we have come forward with this proposal today. As I said in response to previous questions, we will keep the situation under review as the situation in the middle east progresses. The CMA is looking at a number of areas before it makes recommendations that might lead to regulation, and we will study those carefully. One of those is whether the issue of minimum orders needs to be examined more closely. The hon. Lady has my reassurance that we are looking at this issue, and the CMA will come forward with proposals.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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On my hon. Friend’s final point about the medium term, we are keeping this issue under constant review, because the situation is moving so quickly. In his case, it will be for the Welsh Government to set out how they will distribute these funds; that may be through existing schemes, or through a new scheme.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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As the hon. Gentleman will know, the current household support fund and the future crisis resilience fund are discretionary and it will be for the local authorities to determine, under the guidelines, what they will be able to provide. On the support available and the number of households affected, we are confident that this can meet demand over this period of time. As I said in response to other hon. Members, the important thing is ensuring that this money reaches people as quickly as possible, and we did not wait around, as the previous Government did, to provide support to these households.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all his work to stand up not just for his constituents, but for rural communities more generally. The CMA is investigating heating oil and will come forward with proposals, which we will study to determine whether we need to regulate in this area. But it is clear from what we have heard across the House this evening and in other reports that this market is not working in the way it should.
16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source
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This funding has to work for people in Northern Ireland, including in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency of Strangford. That is why today, I have had another call—the second over the past few days—with Minister Archibald in the Northern Ireland Executive, and it is why I will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Executive over the next few weeks.
10 Feb 2026 · Energy Bills: Small Businesses · Hansard source
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One of the best ways to ensure accurate billing is by using a smart meter, which automatically records energy use in every half-hour period, allowing bills based on actual rather than estimated usage. That is why more than two thirds of non-domestic premises are already using a smart meter.
10 Feb 2026 · Energy Bills: Small Businesses · Hansard source
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I am sorry to hear about the experience of businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency. The short answer to her question is yes, we will strengthen the law in this area. Rogue energy brokers have been allowed to use predatory sales tactics for too long to take advantage of customers. That is why, once parliamentary time allows, we will be introducing new measures to stamp out that exploitation.
10 Feb 2026 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source
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The experience that my hon. Friend outlines is still all too common in our country, and I know that he continues to raise this issue on behalf of all his constituents. The warm home discount is available to eligible private renting households on prepayment meters, and through the warm homes plan we are taking significant action to increase the minimum energy efficiency standards for the private rental sector, so that every private renter in my hon. Friend’s constituency and elsewhere benefits from a warm home that is cheaper to heat.
10 Feb 2026 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source
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I am proud that the Government have extended the warm home discount to an extra 2.7 million households, taking the total to around 6 million. Last week, we announced that the scheme would continue supporting households for a further five years to 2031. This will make a vital difference to so many families this winter, including an additional 190,000 households in Yorkshire and the Humber.
10 Feb 2026 · Consumer Energy Prices: Scotland · Hansard source
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I know that my hon. Friend is a real champion for local community power in Na h-Eileanan an Iar. I am sure my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy will have lots to say on the matter soon on his visit to the Western Isles.
10 Feb 2026 · Consumer Energy Prices: Scotland · Hansard source
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Bills are coming down, and yes, I will recommit to that. [ Interruption. ] If the hon. Gentleman does not want to listen to me about the impact of our policies, he might look at the Scottish Government’s own modelling of the £150 off energy bills, which says that the number of people in fuel poverty in Scotland will reduce by 9% and the number in extreme fuel poverty will reduce by 12.5% this April. That is because of this Government’s actions, not because of anything the hon. Gentleman or his colleagues are doing.

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