Bill Esterson
Main Page: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)Department Debates - View all Bill Esterson's debates with the HM Treasury
(3 days, 11 hours ago)
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Rachel Reeves
Okay, that is just the Tories—well, they need to explain how they would pay for it.
I appreciate the fact that the hon. Lady welcomes some of our policies, but the job of the Chancellor and the Government is to ensure that the sums add up. We made difficult decisions last October, but I stand by those difficult decisions; without them, today we would not have been able to make the investments we have made in schools, energy and our health service. I am proud of what we have achieved as a Government, and I am proud of the investment that we are putting in today.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
The warm homes plan will mean healthier and warmer homes and will see lower bills and create jobs in communities right across the country. It is a very good plan, especially for those facing fuel poverty. The last Government’s home energy programme changed every few months, which meant that businesses could not plan and consumers had no confidence in it, not to mention the scandalous misapplication of fixed-wall insulation. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this is a long-term warm homes plan that will deliver warmer homes and cut bills to the benefit of millions of our constituents for years to come?
Rachel Reeves
I thank the Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee for that question. Warm homes are a big part of our plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, and the money that we have put into the warm homes plan today will mean that millions more homes can be retrofitted with better boilers, insulation and solar panels. On average, that takes £600 a year off people’s bills not just for one year, but for every year to come. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. What we have done today is set out a five-year package of capital investment, because it is crucial that the industry is able to plan for the future and that young people are therefore willing to train up and businesses are willing to invest in apprenticeships. That is why on all of our capital spending, including the warm homes plan, we have set out a five-year plan.