Contribution
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine, I think for the first time. We could probably have done with a longer debate given how many people intervened at the start, but I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) for securing this debate and for giving us the opportunity to debate an important issue, which I know lots of Members across the House have an interest in.
I associate myself with the hon. Member’s remarks about the situation in Ukraine. Last year, when I attended the G7 Energy and Environment Ministers meeting, I met the then Ukrainian Energy Minister. I was struck by the sheer scale of what she was facing every day, such as sending energy workers into the field to repair broken transmission lines and substations—not just facing the risks that any worker faces in situations with high voltage cables, but also facing the risk of Russian drone attacks and bombs. I could not be clearer in condemning the actions of the Russian regime and what they are doing in targeting infrastructure at this time.
As I draw this debate to a close, I want to reaffirm that tackling the affordability crisis is this Government’s No. 1 priority. The main reason that bills are so high, as the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam alluded to, is the wholesale cost of gas and our exposure to price shocks caused by our dependence on fossil fuel markets. We are working to bring down, for good, the cost of energy by taking back control of our energy system through our clean energy superpower mission. Thanks to our decisions, last year was a record year for wind and solar power, and we have embarked on the biggest nuclear building programme for half a century. Already in 2026, the Government’s seventh contracts for difference auction secured an incredible 8.4 GW of new offshore wind capacity across Britain—enough to deliver energy for more than 12 million homes. That is what it means to deliver on lower bills, good jobs and energy security. I have to look at the Opposition Benches, which are empty this afternoon, and think about the work that those Members could have been doing in government over the past 14 years to take us to a position where we would have been less reliant on fossil fuels and not facing such fuel shocks. I suppose it is no surprise that they did not turn up to defend their record.
Notwithstanding the concerns voiced by hon. Members this afternoon, which I share, energy bills are starting to come down. In real terms, Ofgem’s price cap was lower in 2025 than in 2024, but we know we need to go further. The Government’s intervention at last year’s Budget will help people deal with cost of living pressures, by taking an average £150 of costs off energy bills from April 2026. By closing the ECO scheme and providing Exchequer funding to reduce the cost of the renewables obligation for domestic energy suppliers, this Government are turning a corner by putting more money in people’s pockets in 2026.
At this point, I want to address the point made by the hon. Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance), who raised the issue of an ECO project affecting one of his constituents. I ask him to send me the details of that case in writing, so that we can investigate it fully. In addition to the £150 off energy costs, we have expanded the warm home discount scheme this year, so that more households will benefit from its support. That means that up to 6 million households will receive a £150 rebate on their energy bills this winter. In Sutton and Cheam, over 2,800 households received the warm home discount last winter; we expect that to increase significantly this year. Under the expansion across London, for example, 950,000 households will benefit from the warm home discount this winter. That is money going on to people’s energy bills and bank accounts, now. I recognise how important that support is to households across Britain over the winter months. That is why we have proposed continuing the warm home discount scheme for a further five years, up to winter 2030-31.
A number of hon. Members raised the warm homes plan, and I will address some of those issues in a moment. The hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam said we needed an ambitious plan; that is precisely what the warm homes plan that we announced last week is. Reducing bills is not just about discounts, whether that is £150 off costs or the warm home discount; it is also about transforming an ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are cheaper to heat and fit for the future.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Rusholme (Afzal Khan) highlighted, the warm homes plan is a vital step in the Government’s mission to address the long-term issue of energy affordability in this country. It is the biggest ever public investment in home upgrades and will help millions of households benefit from solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and insulation.
The hon. Member for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson) talked about the priority afforded to different measures. I reassure her that we are not suggesting that insulation is not important. I am sure she has read the warm homes plan and will have seen the pages that deal specifically with insulation. Insulation plays an especially important part in the local government schemes we are running. With the offer of consumer loans and the work we are doing with finance organisations, there will be an opportunity to finance the retrofit of homes.
The hon. Lady highlighted how technology is changing. She talked about the electric boiler, which I have seen myself. We have been looking at lots of different technologies that could deliver and have already made changes, for example, to the boiler upgrade scheme, which is now offering heat batteries and air-to-air heat pumps as well as traditional heat pumps. We are always on the lookout for new technologies.