Martin McCluskey MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend makes a really important point. We are coming forward soon with our proposals for consumer protection. I have said before in this Chamber that the first thing that landed on my desk, when I came into this role in September, was the NAO’s report into the previous Government’s energy company obligation scheme, which was shocking—awful. To answer the point raised by the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton, my driving force behind any consumer protection work that we do is to make sure that no one faces such a situation ever again. We are working with those affected by the problems with solid wall insulation and internal wall insulation. We are working through a process of audits to reach every single one of those homes by next year and make sure that those people get the support they need. The hon. Lady mentioned that in her remarks, and we are taking action on SWI and IWI to reach every household. In some of the hot spots for poor work, we are sending people door to door to make sure that we reach each household, audit the properties, work out what remediation is required and then remediate it. We will be able to provide a more detailed update on that work soon. Those actions and others will lift 1 million households out of fuel poverty by 2030. The warm homes plan is an offer for everyone. For those on low incomes and in fuel poverty—those who need it most—we are providing £5 billion of direct grant support for home upgrades delivered by local authorities and social housing providers. Given where the hon. Lady’s constituency is, I pay tribute to the work that the Greater Manchester combined authority has been doing through the warm homes social housing fund and the warm homes local grant—it is leading the way in some of the work that is being done. We are making it easier for everyone to access low and zero-interest finance for technologies that can bring bills down over time. We have a strategic partnership with the Green Finance Institute to establish low-cost loans, ideally before the end of this year, to make sure that people have access to finance and can take advantage of clean technology; we cannot have a situation, as we have had in the past, where only those people with the deepest pockets are able to access these cost-saving measures. We are, of course, continuing to support the expanded boiler upgrade scheme available to every eligible household in England and Wales. We have also broadened the range of clean heat technologies supported by the boiler upgrade scheme and continue to work with the industry to make clean heat and home energy upgrades simpler. As the situation in Iran has developed over the past few months, we have seen that households want the chance to generate and use their own clean electricity. That is why the Government are supporting a rooftop revolution to bring solar technology into more homes; hon. Members may have seen the increase in solar over recent months. Subject to final approvals, we are bringing an additional £100 million of funding to the warm homes social housing fund, to support the delivery of up to 57,000 solar installations in this financial year. Our plan is to make plug-in solar available in this country for the first time, opening opportunities for homes where traditional rooftop installation is harder. We also know that, in too many cases, the people paying the price of inefficient homes are the people with the least power to change them. Around 1.6 million children in this country live in cold and damp conditions in private rented accommodation, which is frankly a disgrace. That is why, as part of the warm homes plan, we are introducing new minimum energy efficiency standards in the social and private rental sectors. Alongside what other parts of Government are doing on wider housing reforms, such as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, they will make sure that renters can benefit from warmer homes and lower bills, and that energy affordability is not reserved just for owner-occupiers. Before I conclude, I want to turn to a couple of other points. The hon. Member for Gorton and Denton raised some issues around taxation. I have already mentioned in response to other Members the windfall tax, which remains in place, opposed by the Conservatives and the SNP. We have also recently announced increases to the energy generators levy and the encouragement to take those generators from the contracts they are on at the moment on to longer-term contracts for difference. Within the price cap is a cap on profit; the earnings before interest and taxes allowance caps profit at 1.9% and ensures that profit is there, but adequately capped. I agree with the hon. Lady that we need to be going further and faster on the deployment of clean energy, but I draw her attention to the actions of some of her colleagues in local authorities across the country, where Green councillors have opposed clean energy that, on the latest estimate, could power 9.9 million homes. If we believe in clean power and this agenda, we must place our political will behind it to make sure that we move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible. The Government’s message here is straightforward: we are acting to deliver support directly to those who need it most. We have a serious, long-term plan to reduce exposure to fossil fuel price shocks, improve the homes people live in and ensure that everyone can reap the benefits of this Government’s clean power mission. Our approach is practical, fair and, above all, rooted in the everyday concerns of households. I thank hon. Members for their contributions to this debate. Question put and agreed to .

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  I join the hon. Lady in those calls on nuclear energy, which is essential to our energy mix. She highlighted the example of France; one reason why its electricity cost is so low is that it carried on building nuclear through the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Unlike this country, where we had a stop-start approach to nuclear energy, France has been able to keep costs low. It is disappointing that we have seen opposition to nuclear from the SNP, which will not allow it to be built in Scotland, and from the Green party, which has opposed it, including at Wylfa in north Wales, where we are creating a whole generation of new jobs around nuclear. More than 1,900 Scots move from Scotland to England each week to work on nuclear projects—people who could be working far closer to home if there was a new generation of nuclear energy in Scotland. Turning back to the action the Government have already taken, in the autumn Budget we acted to reduce electricity costs, to the benefit of all households with a domestic electricity meter. We did that by scrapping the energy company obligation and moving 75% of the domestic costs of the renewables obligation to the Exchequer. By doing that, we have been able to provide immediate savings for households. The average saving was around £117 within the price cap, but because it disproportionately fell on electricity—I know that the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald) is interested in the cost of electricity, particularly in rural areas—the discount for rural areas and those on electricity was well over £300 within the price cap. As I said earlier, those changes are still factored into energy bills now; without that action, the July price cap would have been significantly higher. We also announced the continuation of the warm home discount scheme until 2030-31. That will provide around 6 million eligible households with a £150 rebate on energy bills each winter; it is a significant extension of what was available under the previous Government, and it has reached far more people in the last year than it did in the past. The main, structural reason why we find our energy bills so high is because of our exposure, in this country, to volatile international gas markets. The only answer to dealing with those high prices is to take back control of our energy through clean, home-grown power and homes that are cheaper to run. That approach is supported by our warm homes plan. The hon. Member for Gorton and Denton alluded to the need for more retrofitting and improvements to be made to housing, and that is what we are doing through the warm homes plan, which represents the biggest public investment in home upgrades in British history.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is a champion for his constituents. He is making the argument not just for lower prices at the pump and lower costs of energy, but for doing that in a clean, green way. Those two things do go hand in hand; we can reduce energy and fuel prices while people can also make important decisions about clean energy in their own lives. That is exactly what the Government are doing. As I was saying, the approach that we are taking is supported by our warm homes plan, which represents the biggest public investment in home upgrades in British history. It is backed by £15 billion and will help upgrade up to 5 million homes by 2030; that means real improvements to the homes people live in. Households will benefit from solar panels, clean heat technologies and batteries, and improved insulation. Insulation is an essential part of what we are trying to do in the warm homes plan; it has always been part of Government schemes and will into the future. All that is to cut bills and improve comfort for homeowners, renters and others. It will mean a housing stock that is better prepared for the future and a country that is less vulnerable to energy price shocks.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Hannah Spencer) for securing the debate, and I congratulate her on her first Westminster Hall debate and on giving hon. Members across the Chamber the opportunity to discuss a vital issue for all our constituents. As I draw the debate to a close, I want to be very clear about this Government’s priorities. The increase in the price cap announced by Ofgem two weeks ago is not what any of us wanted, and it is caused by the war in Iran. Two days before the conflict began, the price cap fell by 7%—a reduction that is still built into the prices being paid today. As the Prime Minister has said, this is not our war, but we are now feeling the effects of it. That is why we are very clear that the strait of Hormuz must be reopened to traffic.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend will know that decisions about tax are for the Chancellor. We already have the windfall tax on energy profits in place—a tax opposed by the SNP and the Conservative Opposition. I will turn to the points raised by the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton and my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) in a moment. As I was saying, it is not our war, but we are now feeling the effects, and that is why we are very clear that the strait of Hormuz must be reopened to traffic. As Members across the Chamber would expect, we are continuing to monitor the situation. We are exploring all options for future support, but we are taking action now to deal with high prices. Let us be clear why we are doing that: we know that the pressure of high energy costs is very real for many families across the country, as the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton described. Households continue to feel the burden of bills, particularly where incomes are tight, and there is little room in their budgets for unexpected costs. We are determined to return bills to the downward path they were on before the outbreak of the war. It is important to note that energy prices in 2025 were lower than they were in 2024. We delivered a 7% reduction in energy prices in February. They were on a downward trajectory before the outbreak of war in Iran. We are doing this to tackle fuel poverty and protect people from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets that has left too many families exposed to volatile energy prices for too long.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Energy Costs · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Member makes a powerful point. We will come forward with the response on community benefits soon. I point him towards what we have already announced regarding a trial of free wind power for communities close to generation, which will be coming later this year. His point about workforce is also really important. That is why I am chairing a workforce taskforce with the TUC to work through those points and make sure that we have good, home-grown jobs that are unionised and pay decent wages, and that local communities are feeling the benefit of that.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend will know that we are taking action, which the Secretary of State announced, to further delink the cost of electricity from gas. As Ofgem said last week in relation to the price cap, we are already seeing the effects of that. Because of the additional renewable generation in the system, we are seeing the effects of that. Every turbine we build, every solar panel we deploy and every reactor we bring online will ultimately reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and bring down the cost of electricity.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  I would be more than happy to meet to discuss that. The warm homes plan—our £15 billion investment in home energy upgrades, which is the biggest in British history—will go a long way to achieving some of the ends that my hon. Friend describes. I point him towards the work that we are doing jointly with the Green Finance Institute to bring forward low-cost consumer loans so that people across the country can benefit from clean technology.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Member makes an important point. The Government do not want anyone to be making the choice between heating and eating. That is why across Government we are working on a data sprint to work out how we can use household income date to ensure that we are targeting support at the right people.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  We recognise that the latest price cap that has been announced will be deeply concerning for households, many of whom were already struggling before the Iran crisis hit. That is why the Government have already taken action. We have taken £150 of costs off energy bills, extended the warm home discount to nearly 6 million families and provided over £50 million of immediate support for vulnerable customers who use heating oil. We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation closely ahead of winter and stand ready to take action.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all the work he does to advocate for his constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar; I was pleased to visit him recently to see the impact that the increases in heating oil are having on his constituents. We are looking closely at the non-domestic heating oil market, and we will come forward with more proposals in due course.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he is doing on this issue in his constituency, and I would be happy to meet him to discuss it further. I have seen for myself the benefits that green doctors—energy doctors—bring to constituencies across the country when I have visited those programmes. That kind of local support will be central to the work we are doing in setting up the warm homes agency, which will provide advice and guidance to people across the country.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  That comes from a member of a party that learned no lessons from the last energy crisis. We will not make the same mistakes, which is why we are investing in clean power by 2030, which will drive down bills. Only today, we have seen the jobs benefit from the investment in clean energy, supporting 1.1 million jobs, 22,000 small businesses and £105 billion for our economy.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  We can see the economic recklessness of the Conservative party when the hon. Member stands at that Dispatch Box making uncosted promises and claims. Before this crisis, bills were going down—they were going in the right direction—and no one would have anticipated the consequences of the war in Iran. Let us look at the balance sheet of the past two years. This Government have made the biggest investment in warm homes in our history, with record-breaking renewables delivering for 23 million homes. As of today, there has been £90 billion of clean energy investment, and every single wind turbine we deploy and every single nuclear reactor that is online reduces energy bills for consumers across the country.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman’s constituents in Leicester will benefit from the decisions that we have already made. Those decisions take £150 off energy costs and extend the warm home discount and the warm homes plan, providing £15 billion of support. We are delinking and we are already taking action, as the Secretary of State announced last month. Ofgem has pointed out that although last week wholesale gas prices at the price cap went up by 24%, electricity went up by 5%. As it said: “This reflects the increase in the amount of renewable generation on the system and therefore reduced reliance on gas”.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome the hon. Lady to her place, and I look forward to working closely with her on this brief, as I have done with other colleagues from her party. She will know that we have said we are looking at all contingencies in relation to the support that we may need to offer in the winter, but that has to be paid for. We need to ensure that we have proposals that do not make the same mistakes that the Conservatives made in the last crisis, when they wrote a blank cheque in order to provide support to people, so we will come forward with plans for support in the winter.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is a big champion of not just Bristol, but climate action more generally. Bristol is one of the trailblazing heat network cities, and its City Leap partnership is a model of what other local authorities can consider. I am pleased that we have announced nearly £35 million in this Parliament for the further development of its heat networks.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  That was part of the Energy Prices Act, as passed into primary legislation in 2022. It was intended to ensure that the powers were functioning at the time when the Executive were formed. I will go into more detail later. As I was saying, the EPA powers available to the Northern Ireland Department include a spending power and a direction-making power analogous to those that we have used to deliver reduced costs of bills in GB. Those powers will now be due to expire in February 2030. I do not expect my Department to need to take further legislative steps in relation to policy in Northern Ireland, with the Executive now taking on its implementation. Before I close, I repeat what I said when discussing the parallel regulations on the Secretary of State’s power: this is being taken forward in an international environment that is different from the one in which last year’s Budget took place. That difference reinforces the importance of what we are doing, but we also recognise that further steps may be needed. We have set out what we are doing in relation to heating oil, and contingency planning is under way in case further responsive and responsible action is required. Ultimately, the draft regulations amend the period in which powers will be available to the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy, following a request from that Department to ensure that it can act as it needs to in order to reduce energy bills. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  As I said in my opening speech, these provisions allow the Northern Ireland Executive now to take forward their own scheme and for that money to be released, pending the agreement of the final business case with the Treasury. As I also said in my opening speech, I have discussed this with the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy, and we are taking forward these regulations at the Executive’s request to make sure that that funding can be released. Over the three years, it will amount to a £30 bill reduction, because of the removal of 75% of the renewables obligation, which will now be paid by the Treasury. Pending the Northern Ireland Executive coming forward with the business case—it is obviously for them to decide how it is disbursed—that £81 million will be disbursed to people across Northern Ireland.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  Oversight will be done in the ordinary way that all oversight of spending is done. As I said, however, the final business case will be approved by the Treasury before that funding is released to the Northern Ireland Executive. Oversight will proceed as it normally would in such circumstances. To conclude, these regulations are an example of good, practical intergovernmental working. They support our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver reduced energy bills. To be clear, these regulations are enabling in nature. Policy decisions on the use of the powers are ultimately for the Executive, as I said, with the funds available to them. Until February 2030, these regulations give the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy similar spending and direction-making powers to those we have used to deliver reduced costs on bills here in Great Britain. These powers will apply for the duration of the transfer of renewables obligation costs to the Exchequer. As previously stated, I therefore do not expect my Department to need to take further legislative steps in relation to the policy in Northern Ireland, with the Executive now taking on the implementation. I commend these draft regulations to the Committee. Question put and agreed to .

• 2 Jun 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  Let me first turn to the point that has been raised by the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim and the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. As I understand it—we were obviously not in government in this period; the party of the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine was—during the passage of the 2022 Act, that section was formulated in such a way in order for the powers to be implemented once the Executive were formed. It does not mean that if there were not to be a First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the powers would cease. If I am incorrect about that, I will come back in writing to Committee members, but it is my understanding that the section is like that purely because, at the time that the 2022 Act was being discussed, there was not an Executive formed. The previous Government therefore took powers to take action directly, but the section was written in the way that it is to make sure that the Northern Ireland Executive were able to take action once they were formed. If I have said anything this morning that needs to be clarified, however, I will happily write to Committee members. The hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine asked when we will see the £300 off bills. We stand by the commitment to have £300 off bills by the end of this Parliament. We have been very clear about that—I have been very clear about it and the Secretary of State has been very clear about it. Bills were on a downward trajectory before 27 February, when the situation in the Middle East started. We did not expect to be where we are today four months ago, and we do not know what the situation is going to look like four months from now. We hope that the strait of Hormuz reopens as soon as possible, so we have a free flow of goods through there and oil prices can reduce. The hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate asked how this will work. I apologise if I did not pick up all the details of her request, but I think she was alluding to heating oil regulation as well. This legislation does not affect the work that the Government are doing on heating oil, which is with the Competition and Markets Authority at the moment. The CMA is working to an expedited timeline to return to Ministers by June with an assessment of how that market is operating. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have been very clear that they do not believe the heating oil market is operating in the way that it should, so after the CMA returns that assessment to us, we will study its conclusions to understand exactly what we need to do in terms of regulating that market.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 16 March. This Government are fully committed to fighting people’s corner to tackle the cost of living crisis across the United Kingdom. We are taking action on the matter as a priority and we are supporting devolved Governments to act when that is within their purview. I work closely with Ministers in the devolved Governments, including the Northern Ireland Executive. That covers work on the Budget commitments we are discussing, and more widely on the situation for energy consumers across the UK. At last year’s Budget, alongside several positive changes to help working people across the country with the cost of living, the Chancellor announced significant changes to the cost of energy for households. Let me first set out the implications of those changes for consumers in Northern Ireland, before I turn specifically to the draft regulations. The Budget set out that we would remove certain costs from energy bills in Great Britain, which led to energy bills in GB falling by 7% from 1 April this year. That reduced costs on bills related to the renewables obligation and the energy company obligation. Northern Ireland is in a different position as part of the single electricity market across the island of Ireland. Energy affordability is largely a transferred matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. From the outset of the Budget, however, we were clear that we would support the Executive to develop a comparable offer and that, subject to a business case, the Treasury would make such funds available. The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy has since developed a proposal to remove costs—about £30 a year—from electricity bills, totalling £81 million of support over three years. That figure arises because in Northern Ireland, the starting point of policy costs on those bills is different from in Great Britain. In official-level discussions in the wake of the Budget, my Department and the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy worked closely to share learning about the policy design and its legislative basis. That joint working has supported the Northern Ireland Department’s development of its parallel policy. On 2 March, the Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, wrote to me to ask that we take forward regulations to support delivery. We laid the draft regulations before Parliament a fortnight after receipt of that letter, and we are discussing them today. Although we are making the regulations to ensure that the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy has the powers it needs, I should be clear that it is entirely for the Northern Ireland Department to exercise those powers, and for the Executive to announce further details on the policy that they are taking forward. Let me briefly set out precisely what the draft regulations do. They do not give the Northern Ireland Department any new powers that it did not already have in March; they amend the period in which various Energy Prices Act 2022 powers are available to the Northern Ireland Department. Those include a spending power and a direction-making power analogous to those we have used to deliver reduced costs on bills in GB. The effect of the amended time periods is that those powers will now be due to expire in February 2030. They should therefore be available to the NI Department for the duration of the transfer of the renewables obligation cost to the Exchequer.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Draft Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  I thank hon. Members for their speeches. The hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan asked why there had been a delay in laying the draft regulations. The delay was because of continued negotiations between the UK Government and the Scottish Government. At the outset of the discussions with the Scottish Government, there was ambiguity as to what was devolved and what was reserved; that took us some time to agree with the Scottish Government. Scottish Government Ministers then took some time to determine eligibility for the scheme. The reason that we are putting the draft regulations before the Committee today, rather than having done it before the 2022 regulations came to an end, is that we had to wait for the Scottish Government to decide what the criteria for each of the groups would be. The hon. Member asked about the cost of £92 million per year. That £92 million is set by the Secretary of State within the part of the regulations that is reserved. That is proportionate to the overall UK figure; £92 million is the amount that goes to the Scottish Government. That is where the reserve power is. There is a UK-wide figure, so UK—in this case, GB—taxpayers will bear the responsibility for the cost of those bills across the country. The hon. Member also spoke about the Tory cheap power plan, which I have read with interest. I have to say that it is quite thin on detail, and I would argue that some of the suggestions in it would probably bring about further instability within our electricity market. Let me talk about some things that the Government have done in just the past few months. Our £150 warm home discount is offering targeted support to the most vulnerable people. There is also universal support, in the form of the 7% price cap reduction in the current price cap period. Last week, we announced the British industrial competitiveness scheme, which provides support for industry. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero also announced last week how we will go further and faster in our mission for clean power by 2030. It is important to emphasise to hon. Members that the way to get our energy bills down permanently is through home-grown clean power that we control and can control the price of. It is not through continued exposure to volatile fossil fuels like oil and gas that at this very moment are leaving us exposed to volatile wholesale costs, which are still the largest part of each of our energy bills. I can guarantee the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire that I have noticed no one in Speedos in Inverclyde. Even on the sunny banks of Gourock this weekend, there were certainly no Speedos on display, despite the warm weather. The hon. Member made an important point about the impact of rising energy bills on rural homes and businesses; he will know that provision has already been put in place for additional support for those who use heating oil, with over £50 million delivered by the UK Government and now a £10 million scheme in Scotland. We have always said that we will keep that under review. To my knowledge, the Scottish scheme is nowhere near exhausted, but we will keep under review the amount that might be required for additional support. I also point the hon. Member towards the decisions in the Budget to remove costs from energy bills, which disproportionately reduce electricity users’ bills over those who have dual fuel, because most of the discount came from the electricity part of the bill. That will have made a difference. However, we also need to close the spark gap between electricity and gas. The action that the Secretary of State took last week, alongside the Chancellor, to move electricity generation to longer-term contracts for difference will help to close that gap. However, I agree with the hon. Member that there is still room for further measures in future. As I mentioned, fuel poverty is a devolved matter in Scotland. The draft regulations, which we are making on behalf of the Scottish Government, will help more households in Scotland who are facing financial challenges or fuel poverty to receive support each winter, the time of year when support is most needed. This Government are ensuring that lower-income households benefit the most from energy bill reductions. I should also address the point that the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan made about redistribution. This is where we will probably find an ideological difference in our approach to support for the most vulnerable. The Labour party supports redistribution. We support the fact that those with the broadest shoulders are being asked to pay a little more on their energy bills for support—

• 27 Apr 2026 · Draft Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 17 March. Since 2011, the warm home discount has supported low-income and vulnerable households by reducing energy bills during the coldest months of the year, when support is most needed. The Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2022 ended on 31 March 2026; the draft regulations will extend the scheme in Scotland for a further five years until 2031, providing certainty for households, suppliers and delivery partners. As the Committee will know, fuel poverty is a devolved matter in Scotland. Under the Energy Act 2010, as amended by the Scotland Act 2016, Scottish Ministers have powers to design their own fuel poverty scheme, subject to consultation with and agreement from the Secretary of State. To date, the Scottish Government have not made use of those devolved powers. They have instead requested that the UK Government prepare regulations to lay in this Parliament, on their behalf, to continue the warm home discount for the next scheme period. Scottish Government Ministers must consent to the making of such regulations before they are made; I have sought and received their formal consent. Let me set out some of the background. In September, the Government consulted, with the agreement of the Scottish Government, on proposals for the next scheme period. Consultation responses relating to Scotland were shared with Scottish Ministers, who have determined the eligibility criteria for the next scheme period within the agreed spending limit, as set out in the draft regulations. That spending limit will be £92 million for this year, as well as for subsequent years. The draft regulations will continue to require energy suppliers with more than 1,000 domestic customer accounts across Great Britain to participate in the scheme. Suppliers with fewer than 1,000 domestic accounts will be able, as they are now, to participate on a voluntary basis. The draft regulations will continue to provide for £150 rebates to be provided by scheme suppliers under the data-matched core group and the application-based broader group. Participating suppliers will continue to be obliged to provide a £150 rebate to eligible households in the core group, applied directly to their electricity bill. The draft regulations also set out new eligibility criteria for the core group in Scotland, aligning qualified benefits with those of the Scottish winter heating payment, as of December 2025, for the next scheme period. It is estimated that 345,000 households will receive a core group rebate each year, an increase of roughly 250,000 on 2025-26. The draft regulations will continue to oblige scheme suppliers to allocate the remaining balance of their Scottish spending obligation through non-core group support, delivered via the broader group, and optionally though industry initiatives. The draft regulations will update the mandatory eligibility criteria for the application-based broader group, which suppliers must consider when providing support via the broader group. The number of rebates available within the broader group is finite and is dependent on the size of each supplier’s obligation in Scotland. Suppliers will continue to determine their own application processes and decide which eligible households receive the rebate within their obligation. Suppliers will continue to have discretion, subject to Ofgem approval, to extend their eligibility criteria further to other households that are wholly or mainly in, or at risk of, fuel poverty. Under the core group and broader group, around 560,000 rebates are expected to be provided each winter to Scottish households for the rest of this decade, which is almost double the number supported in winter 2023-24, before the scheme was expanded by this Government for winter 2025-26. In addition, the draft regulations will introduce provisions for a late rebate to be issued where a household eligible for the core group did not receive support in the previous scheme year because of an administrative error by a supplier, Ofgem or the Secretary of State. The draft regulations also include a new power to allow the Secretary of State to direct suppliers to communicate additional information about the scheme directly to successfully data-matched core group customers. Households that are not automatically matched by the Department for Work and Pensions will continue to be notified by the Government, and they will be directed to the warm home discount helpline to determine their eligibility for the core group rebate. By continuing the warm home discount scheme, through the draft regulations, we are securing vital support for eligible Scottish households each winter—the coldest time of the year, when support is most needed. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Draft Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  That is why we need a balance of universal and targeted support. Currently, through the price cap, those on dual fuel bills will be receiving an average reduction of 7%. Alongside that, we have targeted support for the most vulnerable people in society. I think that that provides us with the right balance to ensure that widespread support is targeted at those who most need it. We acted in last year’s Budget by taking money off energy bills to tackle the cost of living. These significant changes to how energy is priced have ensured that energy bills have fallen by 7% for an average dual fuel customer paying by direct debit. Once again, I commend the draft regulations to the Committee. Question put and agreed to.