Thursday Volume 576 27 February 2014 No. 127 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday 27 February 2014 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2014 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 387 27 FEBRUARY 2014 388 homes, and that these targeted measures have the potential House of Commons greatly to reduce energy costs in such difficult-to-reach houses? Thursday 27 February 2014 Mr Davey: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As a The House met at half-past Nine o’clock result of our changes, we believe that more ECO measures will help more households. The fact that we have managed to ensure that the affordable warmth and carbon-saving PRAYERS community obligation aspects of the ECO will be extended at the existing rate for two more years is extremely good news for our efforts on fuel poverty. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Mr Mike Weir (Angus) (SNP): Last month, in answer to a question from me, the Minister of State, Department Oral Answers to Questions of Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), said that he would speak to the energy companies about the fact ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE that under the affordable warmth aspect of ECO, as run by them, off-grid gas boilers are not available. Has any progress been made on that, and will the Secretary of The Secretary of State was asked— State take action to end that discrimination? Energy Company Obligation Mr Davey: We have listened to several representations 1. Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab): on that and other areas. We will shortly publish the What recent assessment he has made of the effects consultation document on the ECO, to which the hon. of changes to the energy company obligation on Gentleman might want to respond formally, as well as consumers. [902723] our fuel poverty strategy, which will cover some of the The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change issues that he raises. (Mr Edward Davey): We will shortly be consulting on changes to the energy company obligation. We are Mr Speaker: I call Emma Reynolds. aware of a number of ECO-funded solid wall insulation projects that are not going forward, but we have been Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op): encouraged by the large number of households that Thank you, Mr Speaker— have already benefited from ECO measures, which is now estimated at nearly 450,000 properties at the end of Mr Speaker: Order. He does not look like her and she December 2013. Moreover, thanks to the package of does not look like him; I apologise to the hon. Gentleman. changes that I announced on 2 December 2013, which More specifically, I apologise to the hon. Lady. included the proposed ECO changes, consumers across the UK are set to see their energy bills reduced this year by an average of £50. Jonathan Reynolds: This time last year, work under the affordable warmth component of the ECO—the Lilian Greenwood: The Secretary of State already element that helps low-income households—was trading knows the devastating impact that his changes are on the brokerage at between 25p and 30p in the pound. having on thousands of residents in Clifton in my Today it is trading at just 6p, which means that a constituency who live in hard-to-treat homes, but what maximum of £840 is available for each job, whereas last hope can he offer to the 12 local youngsters who, after year £3,500 would have been available. Given that the completing their initial training, were due to start year-long Government’s figures on the boiler scrappage scheme apprenticeships in installing solid wall insulation when show that 96% of boiler replacements cost more than his change of policy put their futures and hundreds £1,000, what assurances can the Secretary of State give more green jobs on hold? that such work is being done legitimately, safely and responsibly, or even at all? Mr Davey: I am sure that the hon. Lady welcomes the many ECO measures in her constituency. The ECO Mr Davey: It is certainly being done in great numbers, measures that we announced in December prolong the and we can contrast the situation with that under the programme for two more years and have a particular Warm Front scheme that the previous Government focus on fuel poverty, which I would hope that she introduced. In 2010-11, about 80,000 households received welcomes. We will announce quite soon our proposals help under that scheme at a cost of £366 million, but in on incentives for people who want to invest in green the first year of affordable warmth, 130,000 households deal measures, through which I am sure she will see real benefited at a cost of £350 million. benefits for solid wall. The hon. Lady—the hon. Gentleman; I am making Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con): I the same mistake as you, Mr Speaker, so I do not know welcome the news that the energy company obligation what it is about the hon. Gentleman today. However, I scheme will offer targeted support to low-income am surprised that he complains about costs coming households until at least March 2017. Does my right down, because I would have thought that he would hon. Friend agree that it is often the poorest families welcome that. He knows that there is regulation to who live in the worst insulated and hardest-to-heat ensure that standards are met. 389 Oral Answers27 FEBRUARY 2014 Oral Answers 390 Energy Efficiency Gregory Barker: We should celebrate foreign investment in the UK and welcome the fact that the UK, particularly 2. Gemma Doyle (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab/Co-op): under the coalition Government, is becoming a world What steps he is taking to help households improve centre for inward investment. We are seeing investment their energy efficiency. [902724] in the green energy sector reach record highs—more than £30 billion since the coalition came into government The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate —and seeing the amount of clean energy that we are Change (Gregory Barker): More than 450,000 homes generating take us up the European league table from received energy efficiency improvements in 2013 as a the miserable second from bottom place that we used to result of the coalition’s pioneering energy company occupy under the last Government. obligation and green deal measures. We expect that figure to grow substantially in 2014 and that the green Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con): One of the deal market will continue to expand. groups most deserving of benefit, from the warm home scheme in particular, are those who live in park homes, Gemma Doyle: I hear what the Minister says, but of which we have many in North Wiltshire. Due to the more than 7 million homes in the UK are without curious anomaly that electricity payers have to match adequate loft insulation and more than 5 million are exactly the people listed in the Department for Work without cavity wall insulation, so will he explain why and Pensions, they are not eligible for the warm home the number of households getting help through Government discount. Will the Minister find some way of getting programmes fell last year by more than 90%? around this anomaly, so that these deserving people, who live in their own homes, many of which are the Gregory Barker: It is slightly misleading to talk about coldest that could possibly be imagined, benefit from 7 million lofts with inadequate loft insulation. They the scheme? may not have the full amount of insulation, but the amount that they lack varies significantly. Gregory Barker: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his tenacity in raising this issue. He is right. Park home Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab): So it is inadequate. owners and occupants have traditionally had a very poor deal compared with other consumers. We do not Gregory Barker: So it is inadequate. We now need to have the full answer yet, but I am determined to try to move on, not just to simple measures such as loft improve their lot, and I will be happy to meet him to try insulation, but to a much broader holistic approach to to iron out some of these quite difficult problems where home insulation—whole house retrofits. They are more people do not own the meter. There must be more that complex and more expensive, but they also cannot be we can do. done just with subsidy. The Labour party has to make a choice. Do Labour Members want to force up consumer Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): A staggering bills giving ever more subsidy to a small number of amount of electricity is used and several large power people, or do they want to work with us to create a stations kept running simply to power electronic devices genuine new market where people are incentivised to such as televisions and computers that are left on standby. pay for themselves? What can the Minister do, perhaps with other Departments, to try to tackle the problem of electronic devices having Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con): The green deal has to be left on? the potential to revolutionise energy efficiency, but we all need to understand how we can ensure that our Gregory Barker: My hon. Friend asks a good question. constituents link into it. What is my right hon.