Miatta Fahnbulleh MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Feb 2025 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right that energy prices are too high—on that, we agree. We also agree that that is worrying for families and businesses across the country. However, I would point out that 80% of this rise has been driven by wholesale prices. I would also gently remind him that the reason we are in this position—the reason we are so exposed to global fossil fuel prices over which we have no control—is because the Conservatives spent 14 years in government squandering the opportunity to accelerate the transition to clean power and reduce our dependence on global fossil fuel prices, leaving families across the country exposed. The status quo is not tenable. We are at a point where energy prices are at an historic high, and we got here under his Government. That is a status quo that we are not willing to contend with. That is the reason—not because of ideology, but because we see the obvious: as long as we are dependent on global fossil fuel prices, we will be on this rollercoaster. That is what is driving the push to clean power. While the Conservatives have no alternatives, we have a clear alternative: we run to clean power; and while we do that, we support the most vulnerable households in the short term. To answer the shadow Minister’s question, Ofgem is in the process of consulting on the debt support scheme as we speak, and we will support it to put that in place. We know that the debt burden has increased by £3.8 billion, and more than 1.8 million households in need of help will be supported by that scheme. We are absolutely committed to cutting bills—everything we are doing as a Government is driven by that desire and clear commitment. We will do that both through short-term measures and, critically, by running at clean power by 2030. We have a plan to deal with energy bills. The Opposition have a plan to slow down and do nothing, and it will be the British public who pay the price.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  We know there is a challenge with the cost of living. We are coming out of the worst cost of living crisis that we have faced in a generation, and tackling it is central to what we are trying to do in my Department and across Government. It is important that we situate this debate in the context in which we find ourselves. We published a review of our fuel poverty strategy last week, and the headline was staggering: fuel poverty stagnated in this country under the previous Government. In 2023, an estimated 13% of households in England—3.17 million people—were in fuel poverty according to the low income low energy efficiency metric, which is a narrow statutory definition. We know that out there in the country a lot more people are feeling the pressure of energy bills and have the sense that they cannot cope and cannot afford to heat their homes. In 2023, about 46% of all low-income households in England lived in properties with an energy efficiency rating of band D or lower. That creates a cycle that is difficult to escape: the poorest in our country live in cold homes. Behind those statistics are lives, and I have heard the stories directly. People are scared to turn on the heat because they fear the bill at the end of the month. Parents are having to make the impossible choice between feeding their kids and heating their homes. We know that the reality is intolerable for too many people. That is the legacy of the previous Government that we inherited, but we are determined to turn it around. Every family and business in the country has paid the price of our dependence on global fossil fuel markets that we do not control. We inherited sky-high energy bills. Yes, they are down from the crisis peak, but they are still at record highs. Our clean power mission is not ideological; it is a primary solution to this problem. We are running to deliver clean power at this pace because we see that as our route to delivering home-grown energy that we have more control over, that will deliver energy security for the country and, critically, that will take us off this rollercoaster of price hikes, which are impacting families, and deliver the financial security that families across the country are desperate for. But we recognise that, while we do that, we also need to reform the electricity market. The review of electricity market arrangements, which we are working on at the moment, is looking at the very question of how we decouple gas from clean power prices. Our judgment is that, as we increase the amount of clean power in the system, we will do the job of decoupling, alongside market reforms, so that people can benefit from the big changes we are trying to make. We recognise that we also have to support struggling families while we make that transition.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  We have estimated that the average cost of upgrading homes to C is about £6,000. To protect landlords, we have put in place a cap of £15,000 and created mechanisms to provide exemptions for those landlords who we know will genuinely struggle. Alongside that, we are already providing support through our boiler upgrade scheme and warm homes local grant, which landlords can access, and we will be setting out more measures in the warm homes plan to support landlords on this journey. I should say that the vast majority of landlords want to do this—50% have already done so. We need to level the playing field for renters, so that all landlords are delivering homes to a standard that will ensure that they are warmer and cheaper to run for tenants. A big plank of what we know we need to do to tackle fuel poverty—alongside what we are trying to do on minimum energy efficiency standards in the rental sector—will be our warm homes plan, which will transform homes across the country to make them cheaper and warmer. The idea behind it is simple and will mean upgrading homes with insulation, solar and heat pumps. In response to the points made about delays in rolling out the warm home plan, I would say that we are running at this. This year alone, we have massively increased the number of upgrades that we are expecting to 300,000, backed by £3.2 billion-worth of investment, and we will come forward in the spring with our plans to ramp that up. The key thing that we are trying to achieve is moving from the hundreds of thousands of upgrades that we have seen—the inheritance of the last Government, who frankly slashed home upgrades, despite knowing their huge impact on bills and the comfort of consumers —to upgrading millions of homes. That will mean taking a comprehensive look at how we increase demand for home upgrades and deliver at scale in different places, working with regional government and suppliers, and, critically, how we ensure that when people go on this journey of upgrading their homes, they have the confidence to know—to the point made earlier—that the work will be done to a quality standard, and that if things go wrong there will be redress and protection. The current system that we inherited was far too fragmented and ad hoc. Consumers are not at its heart, and we absolutely must turn that around.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Normanton and Hemsworth (Jon Trickett) for securing this really important debate. He has a great record of speaking up for low-income and vulnerable families in his constituency and across the country. I share his desire to tackle fuel poverty and his anger that energy is simply unaffordable for too many people in this country. The Government are determined to take the action necessary to lower bills and support the most vulnerable in our society. I thank all Members for their contributions, and for highlighting the heartbreaking stories of families across the country that are struggling.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  That is pretty audacious of the hon. Member, given the record of the previous Government, their financial position and the wrecking ball they took to the economy. We have to clean up the mess of the previous Government, so yes, we have had to make tough choices before that. Candidly, if I were in the hon. Member’s position, I would be hanging my head in shame, rather than lecturing this Government on how we clean up the mess they created. What I will say is that, whether on the economy or fuel poverty, we understand that we have been given an atrocious inheritance. We are not complacent about that. Things that the Conservatives were willing to accept, we are not willing to accept.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  Let me address the points made by Members from rural constituencies. This plan has to work for every part of the country and we have to have solutions for every house. Rather than the Government dictating solutions from on high in Whitehall, we need to empower the system to figure out the best way to deliver warm homes for people across the country. That means thinking about the range and mix of solutions that go into people’s homes, so that they can have low-carbon options, but also options that work for their pockets. Alongside what we need to do through our warm homes plan, it is important to say that we must also deal with the question of supporting households on bills. That is why going into this winter, wanting to do everything we can to support the most vulnerable, I worked with energy suppliers to get them to commit to £500 million of industry support for people this winter so that we can get help to households that we know are struggling. The Government have also extended the household support fund until 31 March 2026 with an extra £752 million. We are providing the cold weather payment and our Department is providing the warm home discount to more than 3 million households. The Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 expire in 2026, so we want to consider options for the future. Members talked about a social tariff. The challenge with the social tariff, which we are hearing about across the piece, is that it means different things to different people. However, we are looking at all the options to make sure we can provide the support that people need. In conclusion, I understand Members’ passion; I share their passion and their commitment. Energy is not a luxury good. It is not a “nice to have”. It is foundational for people, but it is out of reach for some. That is a shame and a stain on us, and we are determined to turn things around.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  I will make progress. On the critical issue of fuel poverty, we are consulting in order to improve our strategy, looking at how to make progress on our statutory target for 2030 and asking questions about wide affordability. As we take action, we must ensure that we are dealing with our statutory obligation and the more fundamental problem of affordability across the country. Alongside our consultation on the fuel poverty strategy, we have also taken steps to try to lift half a million people out of fuel poverty by improving standards in the private rented sector. Last week we published a consultation on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector by 2030. Our proposals would require landlords to upgrade their homes so that tenants can benefit from warmer homes through insulation, cavity wall insulation and double glazing first, and then through other measures such as solar, batteries and smart meters. My hon. Friend the Member for Normanton and Hemsworth asked about the impact on renters. I would say two things. Our analysis suggested that if we get this right, it could save renters about £240. We know that there is a risk of landlords potentially hiking bills, but when we have upgraded homes in the past, we have found that landlords have not increased bills, so we do not expect them to do so this time. Critically, we have also been surveying landlords, and the feedback is that the majority would cover the cost of the upgrades, which they know is the right thing to do. I should add that 50% of landlords have already upgraded their homes up to EPC C, so they will pay for this through those savings. We are therefore confident that renters will not be penalised, and we believe that the measures in the Renters’ Rights Bill will provide enough safeguards to ensure that renters can benefit from £240 off their energy bills and the security of knowing that their rents will not be increased.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member raises winter fuel payments, as hon. Members across the House have done. The Chancellor had an impossible job to do and made a tough call, but we have been clear that we will do whatever is needed to support the most vulnerable. Everything I am charged with doing, everything that my Department is trying to do, is to ensure that households struggling with bills can be protected and insulated. The Government reviewed the fuel poverty strategy, “Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households”, because we recognised that the trajectory we were on was not the right one. The review showed that progress on meeting the statutory target has stalled. Alongside that review, we are consulting on how to up our strategy to respond to that problem.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree that home insulation is a key part of how we tackle the problem of fuel poverty. Unless we have homes that are insulated, whatever energy we put into people’s homes, at whatever price, is going out of their windows. That is why it is so important to what we are trying to do through the warm homes plan. We seek through the plan to provide long-term certainty: for consumers, so that they know there is a programme that will support them through a journey, and, critically, for the supply chain. I have spoken to many installers who tell me they are living hand to mouth. The ability to build, to plan, to recruit apprenticeships and to build up capacity is constrained by a stop-start approach. We are clear that the plan needs to be long term. We are working to make sure we can underpin that with long-term certainty on funding, so that we can see the level of ramp-up and scale-up that we need to insulate and upgrade millions of homes, rather than hundreds of thousands of homes.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty: England · Hansard source

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  Let me reassure the hon. Member that we are talking to all devolved Administrations. There are common challenges that we all face and common solutions. We are working in collaboration; we have an interministerial working group, and I am having direct conversations with all devolved Administrations as we take forward our plans. We are also trying to work with everyone. The challenge we face to turn around the trajectory on fuel poverty is huge and the inheritance is tough, so we want to draw on the expertise of consumer groups, industry and academia as we develop our plan on fuel poverty.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Draft Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The regulations were laid before the House on 16 December 2024. They amend two schemes that were created by the previous Government in response to the energy crisis. The amendments address an issue that was not considered in the rush to create the schemes, but has now come to the fore as we bring the schemes to an end. The issue is somewhat technical, so I ask hon. Members bear with me. Both the energy bill relief scheme and the energy bills discount scheme, which I shall refer to as the EBRS and the EBDS, supported non-domestic energy users, including businesses and heat networks. The EBRS supported energy bills from October 2022 to March 2023 and the EBDS supported bills from April 2023 to March 2024. The schemes have processes in place to ensure that, as bills are revised with accurate meter readings, the difference between the discount applied to the estimated bill and that applied to the final bill is reconciled. Suppliers then come back to Government to recover additional discounts they have paid out, or to pay back any excess discounts stemming from an over-estimation of the energy used in the first instance. That is right—the intention behind the schemes has always been for the Government, not the energy suppliers, to meet the cost to the consumer. The regulations allow for the Secretary of State to determine when a supplier should leave the scheme on the basis of an assessment that there will be no further material amount owed by the Department to that supplier. Once a supplier has left the scheme, they are unable to claim back any further moneys from the Department for discounts they paid out on behalf of the schemes. However, as the regulations currently stand, suppliers are still required to pay out discounts on any newly billed energy supplied during the periods of either scheme, even when that situation arises through no fault of their own. This could result in suppliers funding Government support without the ability to recoup those costs from the Department. That is contrary to the intention of the schemes. Consequently, suppliers have been reluctant to leave the schemes, which must come to an end in a timely manner. The amendments in the statutory instrument remove the obligation on suppliers to provide the discounts to customers, except in instances when the consumer has lost out due to poor practices by their energy supplier. In those instances, we have provided carve-outs to balance the interests of suppliers with support and protection for consumers. Carve-outs are in place when a supplier has failed to provide their customers with a bill for energy supplied during the scheme period, when unreasonable delays or another failure has led to the energy not being billed accurately, or when the supplier has unreasonably failed in the duty to provide the discount. The customer should not and will not lose their entitlement to the discount in those circumstances. If any dispute arises between the supplier and the customer in relation to the carve-outs, the resolution mechanisms will be those normally used in the industry, via a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, investigation and potential sanction by the regulator, Ofgem, or court action. The amendments apply to energy suppliers in Great Britain. Separately, the regulations amend the Energy Prices Act 2022 to allow the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland to make amendments to address issues in the Northern Ireland scheme. That is because their power to amend their equivalent legislation has expired. Let me end by saying a few words about the challenges that non-domestic consumers face because of high prices. I know that Members across the Committee are concerned about that. Energy prices for non-domestic customers have dropped below the record peaks during the crisis, but the Government recognise that they remain high and pose issues for some businesses. The Government believe that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and to protect bill payers, including non-domestic consumers, permanently. In the short term, the Government are taking action to better protect businesses from being locked into unfair and expensive energy contracts. Last year, the Government launched a consultation on introducing regulation of third party intermediaries, such as energy brokers. That is aimed at enhancing consumer protections, particularly for non-domestic consumers. The consultation has now closed and the Government will respond in due course. The Government are also empowering businesses to challenge unfair and poor practices by suppliers. Since December 2024, small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 50 employees can have access to free support to resolve issues with their energy supplier through the Energy Ombudsman. That expands the service to 99% of British businesses, allowing them to access up to £20,000 in financial awards. Those are important steps, on which we will continue to build. I hope that hon. Members will support the important regulations, which I commend to the Committee.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Draft Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his response. I am glad that we have consensus across the Committee about the regulations. The hon. Member is right to point out that energy bills are high. All hon. Members know that, and it is a central focus of the Government’s. I come back to the fact that we inherited a position whereby bills were at record heights. That is a result of our dependence on global fossil fuel markets over which we have no control. I have said this before and I will say it again: the Opposition were happy with that status quo, but we are not willing to put up with it. We believe that it must be changed. Our drive for green power will deliver home-grown clean energy, which will give energy security to the country and financial security to families. While we do that, our manifesto commitment to reduce bills remains central to what we are trying to achieve. It is the core of everything that the Department is trying to do. We will bear down on bills through clean power and we will ensure that we take short-term action to protect bill payers who are struggling. Critically, we will upgrade millions of homes so that we can deliver lower bills and warmer homes. We are committed to that because we understand that, throughout the country, people face a cost of living crisis, which we inherited from the Conservative Government, who did not do enough to insulate and protect people. We will not make that mistake. We are determined to do this. Again, I commend the regulations to the Committee. Question put and agreed to.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Electricity Bills: Standing Charges · Hansard source

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  I am sorry to hear about the case of Lesley, and I know there are people across the country who have this frustration with standing charges. I reassure the House that we have a commitment to reducing them. We are working with Ofgem on a set of options. Our challenge is to ensure that standing charges do not penalise some households and that they are as fair as possible. That is what we are committed to doing, and that is what we are working every day to deliver.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Electricity Bills: Standing Charges · Hansard source

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  We know that people are frustrated with standing charges, and we are committed as a Government to reducing them. As an initial step, the regulator Ofgem is consulting on giving people the option of no standing charge tariffs within the price cap, and we will continue to work with the regulator to ensure that we lower standing charges in the fairest way possible.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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  The previous Government’s record on fuel poverty was absolutely woeful, and we have had to inherit an incredibly challenging trajectory. We are doing everything we can to shift that by upgrading homes for families in fuel poverty, driving up standards in the rental sector so that we lift 1 million people out of fuel poverty and supporting over 3 million households with our warm homes discount, all while running with our mission for clean power.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is completely right. There is no justification for raiding retrofitting budgets, because we know that is the route by which we upgrade people’s homes to deliver homes that are warmer and cheaper to run. We are doing our bit to drive down energy bills and deliver clean power, which is the route to energy security and financial security. The Scottish Government need to crack on and do their bit.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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  Fuel poverty is devolved in Scotland. The Scottish Government have had the opportunity to make a dent in this problem for almost 20 years and they have not. Even now, as we are ramping up upgrades to help people with fuel poverty, the Scottish Government are raiding more than £200 million from retrofitting funds that could help families today. I will take no lectures from the hon. Gentleman on how we tackle this problem.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to point out that we need to reduce energy bills for businesses, including those in energy-intensive industries. I was sorry to hear about the job losses in his constituency, and one of the ministerial team will be happy to meet him. I must add, however, that this is exactly why we are running our clean power mission. We see that the route through which we can drive down bills is breaking our dependence on global fossil fuel markets over which we have no control, in order to take ourselves off the rollercoaster of price rises and price hikes that is so damaging to businesses. While we do that, we are working with Ofgem and industry to ensure that businesses are not being locked into expensive contracts, and to ensure that they have much stronger redress when things go wrong.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is completely right. Every solar panel and every wind turbine that we put up takes us closer to delivering the energy security that we need to achieve financial security for families. That, combined with our drive to upgrade people’s homes, is what will protect households in the long term. It is the central mission of this team, this Department and this Government, and it is why we are running at clean power by 2030.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  Yes, we will meet the hon. Gentleman. We are working to ensure that outages are not the norm. This is obviously linked to weather issues that we are having to respond to, but the team has been working to ensure that households are not put in a difficult situation, and when they are, that we are responding as quickly as possible.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend that we urgently need to tackle the challenge of affordability. Energy is not a luxury good; it is foundational, and for too many people, this essential good is not affordable. A social tariff is one mechanism of responding to this, and there are different ways in which that can be implemented. We are looking at all the options, to ensure that families can get this essential good at more affordable prices.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  We have a manifesto commitment to reduce energy bills by £300. We are doing everything we can. We have a legacy of record high energy bills. We are running at clean power because we think that is the route to delivering lower energy costs. We are upgrading people’s homes because we know that is the route to delivering homes that are warmer and cleaner to run. We are doing everything we can. The Conservative party oversaw a crisis for households, so before its Members start lecturing us on what we should do, they should be hanging their heads in shame.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member explains exactly why we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuel markets. That is why it is critical that we deliver clean power by 2030—that is the central mission of this team, and we are running at it. The Scottish Government do have the levers to protect households in fuel poverty. Before the hon. Member criticises us, they should get their house in order and get on with the job.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is 100% right. The reason we are so exposed as a country to global fossil fuel markets and the rollercoaster that is damaging business and hurting consumers is the Conservative party’s failure to invest in home-grown clean power and to upgrade people's homes to insulate them from high prices. That is a record of which the Conservatives should be ashamed, and it is a record that we are determined to change.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Energy Suppliers: Winter Support for Consumers · Hansard source

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  We know that this winter has been difficult for many people who are struggling with high energy bills. We agreed the winter support package with industry and Energy UK to get support to the people who need it, and £500 million is being provided through industry. When combined with the support that we are providing through the warm home discount, that amounts to £1 billion for the families who we know need help this winter.