here - United Kingdom Parliament

1651 Oral Answers
6 JUNE 2013
Oral Answers
1652
wish, to install solar panels, and how on earth it will do
anything to make it cheaper for those struggling to pay
their energy bills.
Gregory Barker: My hon. Friend and I are absolutely
on the same page on this matter. That is why I am
fighting this EU proposal very hard. It is not just me;
18 other member states take a similar view to us. We are
determined to continue to push the EU Commission to
come to a sensible agreement with China and to make
sure that the EU stands for free trade and open borders.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/
Co-op): One significant form of low-carbon green
investment that the Secretary of State spoke about
during his speech to the Met Office on Monday is
carbon capture and storage. His predecessor told the
House in October 2011, when Scottish Power pulled out
of the Longannet project, that he guaranteed that there
would be no Treasury backsliding on the capital funds
for CCS demonstrator projects in the competition. Will
the Minister confirm whether that remains the case—yes
or no—and whether the £1 billion is still available?
Gregory Barker: Yes, it does.
Tom Greatrex: I am grateful for that answer, and I am
sure that those in the industry who will be slightly
disconcerted by the tenor of some of the remarks by the
Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael
Fallon), during the passage of the Energy Bill will be
gratified as well. However, may I press the Minister a
little further? Given that the Cabinet Office project
assessment review that I obtained last year said that
in the current comprehensive spending review only
£200 million was available, will the remainder of the
£1 billion be available for the next CSR period? Can he
confirm that whatever else he has given up in his less
grand bargain with the Treasury on DECC’s budget,
that money is safeguarded for CCS in the next CSR
period?
Gregory Barker: I am very happy to scotch the hon.
Gentleman’s baseless scaremongering and political pointscoring.
The fact of the matter is that we are going
forward with the CCS programme, and it is going to be
successful, unlike Labour’s failed attempts at CCS. We
have two preferred bidders in place, and it is backed by
£1 billion, putting the UK at the front of the global race
for carbon capture and storage.
Fuel Poverty
8. Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab): What recent
assessment he has made of the likely level of future fuel
poverty in the UK. [158082]
9. Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith)
(Lab/Co-op): Whether he plans to take further steps to
reduce the level of fuel poverty in the UK. [158084]
11. Fiona O’Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab): What
recent assessment he has made of the likely level of
future fuel poverty in the UK. [158086]
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
(Mr Edward Davey): Recently published statistics show
a modest fall in fuel poverty in 2011 compared with
2010, from 4.75 million UK households to 4.5 million
UK households. This is welcome, but we are determined
to do more. Our comprehensive policy package includes
targeted energy efficiency measures under the green
deal and the energy company obligation, direct bill
rebates under the warm home discount and, of course,
measures through the Energy Bill to back Ofgem’s
proposals to simplify the market.
Julie Hilling: Under the previous Labour Government,
the number of people in fuel poverty fell by 1.75 million.
In the past two years, the number of households in fuel
poverty has gone up from one in five to one in four.
When next year’s figures come out, will the number of
people in fuel poverty be higher or lower than when
Labour left office?
Mr Davey: The hon. Lady will know that during the
previous Parliament, when Labour was in office, fuel
poverty grew in every single year and that, according to
the latest figures, it has now gone down. In many ways
this is a rather odd debate. The Government commissioned
Professor Hills to review how we measure fuel poverty
and he has come up with proposals that have gained
wide-scale acceptance. We have consulted on them and
will respond shortly to that consultation. We believe
that the old measurements of fuel poverty, which are
still in use, need radical reform so that we can better
target fuel poverty policy.
Mark Lazarowicz: The problem with Government
measures such as putting the consumer on to the cheapest
tariff—if that ever happens—is that they will not make
much difference if the tariff prices themselves and energy
prices are high. The main beneficiaries of the green deal
are not people on low incomes, but people who will be
able to take up the arrangements. What is the Secretary
of State doing to help people on low incomes who face
high energy bills now, particularly given the high fuel
prices over the past few months?
Mr Davey: We have a whole range of measures. For a
start, the warm home discount helps more than 2 million
low-income people, including 1 million of the poorest
pensioners, by taking £130 off their bill directly. Schemes
such as collective switching mean that we are helping
people club together to exercise power in the market to
get better rates. The simplification of tariffs proposed
by Ofgem will mean greater competition and choice for
people. We have a whole range of measures. On energy
efficiency, the energy company obligation, through the
affordable warmth and carbon saving communities schemes,
is helping people in fuel poverty.
Fiona O’Donnell: The Secretary of State clearly thinks
he is doing a great job on fuel poverty. In which case,
why does his own Department’s public attitudes survey
show that concern about energy bills has risen from
49% last year to 59% this year? Is not this another
example of a Government who are out of touch with
ordinary people?