Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Huhne and Alun Cairns

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Chris Huhne)]

Oil is an internationally traded commodity with prices derived from the global market and, as such, the Government cannot control fuel prices. Within the UK, we have an open market for oil, which we believe provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices for the consumer. We are encouraging more energy-efficient cars and homes, and we have asked the Office of Fair Trading to report on the heating oil market. Internationally we are working to improve the functioning of the global oil market, and we are reinforcing the work of the international energy forum, especially by increasing transparency. The key is speeding up the shift to the low-carbon economy by getting us off the oil price hook.

[Alun Cairns]

On 17 November, one of my constituents paid £490 for 1,000 litres of kerosene heating oil. By 18 December, they were forced to pay £745 for 1,000 litres of heating oil. Although fuel price is an issue for everyone across the UK, does the Secretary of State recognise the particular plight of people who live in rural areas and who do not have the option of mains gas and other sources of energy?

[Chris Huhne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; this is a key issue in rural areas to which the ministerial team have given a lot of attention. The Energy Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), has suffered the effects of this in his own home and feels strongly, as we all do, that we need to get a grip on this. That is precisely why we asked the Office of Fair Trading to look at the heating oil market. We want to be absolutely assured that there is no exploitation and that the market is open and fair, which in the long run is the best guarantee. But we are also concerned about these off-gas-grid homes, and in the longer term we want to ensure that they have the best benefits from the green deal.

Electricity Market Reform

Debate between Chris Huhne and Alun Cairns

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

I take it that when the hon. Gentleman says “the domestic oil sector,” he means the offshore oil and gas sector in its entirety. The prices for that sector are clearly set in a global market, so what we do, although it will be very significant in the electricity sector within the UK, will have a marginal impact on the overall global demand for oil and gas, and therefore on the prospects for our own domestic offshore oil and gas sector.

In the last 72 hours we have been trying to ensure that drivers can work longer—that they can get heating oil to homes that need it. The Energy Minister has been in constant discussions, looking at any way in which we can ensure that those who need heating oil and are currently short of that oil get it. That is essential. In those discussions, my hon. Friend has been informed about suppliers attempting to ensure that people do not have too much, so that there is enough to go round for everyone.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

The Secretary of State’s statement includes some ambitious targets for renewables by 2020. What consideration has he given to planning matters in view of the coalition Government’s policy intention to devolve planning to a more local level, and what reassurance can he offer many people who might be concerned that large-scale wind farms could be foisted upon them?

[Chris Huhne]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question because Ministers and senior officials were discussing that subject with representatives of the industry only this week. We had an interesting and useful round-table discussion about exactly that. I do not believe that top-down solutions are the right solutions, and therefore the planning framework that gives local communities real control over what happens in their area is absolutely crucial. At the same time, one message that we heard loud and clear from the industry is that where the industry has brought in local communities, often as co-investors, and where there is a clear benefit for the local community from renewable energy projects, including onshore wind, those projects go ahead. I think that is the right way forward.