Energy Grid Resilience

Chris Vince Excerpts

Wednesday 30th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I say to the right hon. Gentleman: never say never. I am sure he has it in him.

I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. In the news we saw the impact on day-to-day life of what happened in Spain and Portugal, and he is absolutely right that if that was to go on for longer than a few days, there would be quite significant impacts. We look closely at the cascading effects and at what parts of the system we reboot faster than others to deliver priority services, such as in the NHS. We will continue to do that. The point he raised yesterday and again today about how quickly different parts of the UK and Scotland would be rebooted is an important one that I will take away.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

With all these marathon runners in the House today, I wonder whether we might be able to generate some kinetic energy rather than the usual hot air. [Interruption.] I apologise; I did not expect a pylon for that—sorry, another energy joke. My genuine congratulations to all those who did run.

The major concern of residents in my constituency is the ageing grid infrastructure. What work has the Minister done to ensure that we have the infrastructure we need to ensure that constituencies like mine have the power to shine?

[Michael Shanks]

Madam Deputy Speaker, I think you need to make a ruling on drawing marathon-related puns in the House to an end, but the subject is a really important one. Of course, that is why we are in this sprint towards building more network infrastructure—[Interruption.] Thank you.

There are two really important things to recognise with our network. First, it cannot stay in the state that it is in forever; it needs upgrading. Secondly, the demand that we fully expect to see—potentially a doubling by 2050, and maybe even more than that—means that we will have to build more grid to bring the power to where it is necessary to deliver economic growth. It is right that we move forward with that, but everyone will need to recognise that, to deliver that system—whether we are delivering clean power or not—the network is necessary, and stuff does have to get built somewhere. The Government are committed to building it and the Conservative party is committed to opposing it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Vince Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend raises a really important point about the crucial role of local authorities in relation to these issues. One of the things that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has done is devolve more funding to combined authorities on this. We want to go further, including in relation to local authorities, because it is local authorities—including my hon. Friend’s, which I congratulate—who know best the particular needs of their own localities, and they are a key part of the answer to the energy efficiency upgrade that we need.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on job creation in industrial communities.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Michael Shanks)]

Great British Energy will support the creation of thousands of high-quality, well-paid jobs right across the country and help rebuild the UK’s industrial heartlands. Just last week, the Prime Minister announced £300 million for Great British Energy to kick-start supply chains here in the UK. Once the Great British Energy Bill finishes its final stages in Parliament, we will come forward with more exciting plans for our domestic clean energy champion.

[Chris Vince]

I welcome the £300 million of investment for GB Energy announced last week. I think we all recognise the opportunities of the green energy transition, but what opportunities are there for my Harlow constituents to be part of that publicly owned energy company?

[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that, with Great British Energy and our clean power mission, we are trying to create the jobs that will deliver that transition here in the UK, which is something that the Conservatives failed on for many years. We expect that funding, and much more that will come from Great British Energy, to mobilise more than £1 billion in private investment in domestic supply chains, driving forward manufacturing and industry here in the UK and the good jobs that go with it.

Warm Home Discount

Chris Vince Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I remind the hon. Member that the Scottish Government have jurisdiction in this area. We are working in collaboration with them to deliver this, but the Scottish Government do have responsibility in this area and he knows it. We are committed to bearing down on energy bills—of course we are. It is the central driving mission of everything that we are doing as a Government. It has been eight months. I hope that everyone can see from what we have done—whether it is removing the ban on onshore wind, whether it is a record-breaking auction, or whether it is the plans that we have to support the most vulnerable households—that we are running at this. We take our commitment seriously, and we are doing everything in our power to drive it. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman reminds his colleagues in Scotland that they should be using the power that they have, including with the warm home discount, to protect their consumers.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the Minister’s statement. This extra support will make a huge difference to residents in my constituency of Harlow. One of the issues with living in a post-war new town is that all the houses were built at roughly the same time, so the issues of insulation all appear at roughly the same time. At this morning’s crisis summit, which I and the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) attended, there was a strong feeling that cross-departmental communication is key to ensuring that funding gets to the people who need it the most. Does the Minister agree?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. That is why we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and across Government, to target this support at households, so that we are helping people who we know are struggling.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Vince Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking with his international counterparts to tackle climate change.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

18. What steps he is taking with his international counterparts to tackle climate change.

[Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)]

21. What steps he is taking with his international counterparts to tackle climate change.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call Chris Vince.

[Chris Vince]

Thank you Mr Speaker—I’ve done the training. I welcome the Secretary of State’s warm words about our leadership on international climate issues, which is in stark contrast to the previous Government’s failings. I also publicly welcome his recent visit to Harlow college—less said about the racing game, which he won, the better. Does he agree that it is only thanks to the commitment shown by the new Government to drastically deliver on climate change issues that we can lead on a world stage?

[Mr Speaker]

Neatly done, although it was a little long. Come on Secretary of State.