David Smith

I commend the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for securing this important debate. As the first missiles went into Iran, bills doubled for the households in my constituency that use heating oil—there are about 5,000 of them. It was a terrible moment, and I am really pleased that the Government stepped in with the £53 million we have been talking about. In March this year, £5 million was given to the Conservative-run Northumberland county council for the crisis and resilience fund, which can be used for heating oil. The CRF can be used for heating homes, but it is very opaque; it is unclear how that money is being used and how much has gone the door. I have been asking, and I have not yet got a clear understanding. I am pleased that Labour have provided further relief. They are providing £100 for energy bills for households in council tax bands A to D this winter. They are cutting the kerosene tariff—I will be chasing suppliers in my constituency to make sure they pass that on to consumers—boosting the boiler upgrade scheme, and so on. It is welcome that we are bringing in regulation to heating oil. All the responses we have heard today follow an important principle: do not mess with the market when it is working, and do not let the market mess with people when it is not—that is where we have to step in. I ask my hon. Friend the Minister: what if higher heating oil prices are here to stay? What can we do in the medium to long term? I welcome the short-term measures we are taking. Last year, I spoke to a development trust in Norham that wants to introduce a local grid in my constituency using renewables, solar and wind. Great British Energy, which I fully support, is supposed to support little communities like that. If we can circumvent this problem and get people off heating oil where possible, and if we can empower communities to have local grids, that is what we should be pursuing. Will the Minister say something about progress on that?