Debbie Abrahams
Main Page: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Gregory Barker
I thank the hon. Lady for that speech. The fact is that the green deal is on track, and we will be publishing the secondary legislation very shortly; it will be done and dusted before the summer recess. We had an excellent meeting yesterday with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister in which we reviewed the whole green deal programme, and I am glad to report that we are all on track.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
4. What steps he is taking to help households with their energy bills.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
The Deputy Prime Minister recently announced an agreement with energy suppliers to ensure that all consumers have good information on their supplier’s best tariff. This builds on previous actions by the Government to help people to control their bills, and complements Ofgem’s proposals in the retail market review to protect consumers. We are also encouraging consumers to harness their collective purchasing powers.
Debbie Abrahams
I thank the Secretary of State for his reply. In my constituency, 6,563 over 75-year-olds would benefit by £200 a year from being put on the lowest tariff. I appreciate what the Government are doing, but many of those people are unable to access online facilities easily. What else can the Government do to ensure that they benefit from these measures?
Mr Davey
Thanks to the deal that we have negotiated and that the Deputy Prime Minister has announced, those pensioners in the hon. Lady’s constituency will be written to every year by their energy supplier and advised of the best tariff for them. Furthermore, because of the warm home discount for which this Government have legislated, 600,000 of the poorest pensioners in the country are getting a direct discount of £120 off their energy bills. That is real action.