Kirsteen Sullivan

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald) for bringing forward this important debate. Communities have suffered the impact of more than a decade of botched energy policies and soaring bills, while our reliance on imported energy has put our energy security at risk. Many of our constituents will pay their monthly energy bills to a company based 600 miles and an ocean away. We know that our energy system is broken, but for too long it has felt far too distant to fix. This Labour Government are already doing things differently with GB Energy, owned by the British people, which will invest in clean energy and ensure that our communities reap the benefits. At its heart is a commitment to support and expand community-owned energy projects, which are owned by the local people that use the energy. That is not new, however. Local people already benefit from community-owned projects that exist and thrive across the country. The hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper) spoke earlier about wind turbines. I know of many initiatives in my constituency that contribute to projects in local communities to deliver benefits for them. With community ownership we can deliver even more. Let us be clear about this. Community ownership is a Labour party value, and it is not just a concept; it is about delivering benefits and value to our cities, towns and villages. The local power plan is a product of years of campaigning by the Co-operative party, and as a Labour and Co-operative MP I am proud that the Labour Government are going to deliver on this. At a fundamental level, community power is about giving people a say and a stake in the things that impact their daily life, such as those mentioned by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael): local jobs, lower prices and supporting local projects to deliver according to local priorities.