Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Chris Huhne(13 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
T6. My constituents have faced an incredibly difficult winter, and they want to know what action the Government will take now, not in the future, to make energy companies bring down their prices.
Chris Huhne
The action that Ofgem is taking is now, not in the future. It is reviewing the matter and making it very clear to the energy companies that margins that are not justified by the economics will incur its wrath, the use of its powers and potentially a competition inquiry. I merely refer to my earlier answer about all the action that the Government are undertaking to try to ensure that people are protected in these difficult times through cold weather payments, winter fuel payments and the voluntary discount scheme. We want to ensure that the people are who most adversely affected are protected.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Chris Huhne(13 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Chris Huhne
As my hon. Friend knows, that commitment is in the coalition agreement, and I merely point out that the current Chancellor of the Exchequer was of course on the negotiating side for the Conservative party in the coalition agreement, so he is as aware as everyone else of the importance of such matters as carbon capture and storage and others in driving forward a low-carbon agenda. I should like particularly to pay tribute to the Chancellor, who was, I think, the first person to put forward specifically the ideas on the green investment bank. My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I am confident that the Government will come forward with a plan, when we have the results of the comprehensive spending review, which will make further and accelerated progress towards the low-carbon economy that we want to see.
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
T3. New green jobs will be crucial not just to securing our economic recovery, but to bringing growth to the economy. We are leading the way in Sunderland with the manufacture of the electric car at Nissan, but we need further support for low-carbon industries and jobs, so why are the Government cutting that support?
Chris Huhne
The hon. Lady knows that we have already made an announcement, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has announced support for electric vehicles, which I hope her constituents and Nissan employees at Sunderland will welcome. That was a very unusual exception to the general rule that we have to wait for the outcome of the comprehensive spending review before we are able to announce such matters, so on that issue we have bent over backwards.