Draft Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) Order 2025

Leigh Ingham Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 General Committees

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Opposition.

The draft order makes modest technical changes to the administration of the energy company obligation scheme, and we will not press it to a vote today. We agree that it is important for low-income households to get the help they need to save money on their energy bills and escape the hardships of fuel poverty. However, Ministers should reflect on how their policies are making energy more expensive for everyone by increasing dependency on costly and unreliable renewables. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, environmental levies will increase from £9.9 billion last year to £14.8 billion by 2030. That is a result of policy choices made by this Government, and the cost will inevitably fall on the vulnerable and make fuel poverty harder to escape.

Last week, I raised with the Minister Labour’s claim on social media: “£129 off your bills, delivered by Labour”. Will she accept that that was wrong, because that fall in prices was driven by reductions in wholesale gas prices? The Government are trying to take the country off gas, while policy costs imposed by Ministers are actually increasing. She disassociated herself from those social media posts last week, so—

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

Is the position of the official Opposition now to oppose the good jobs generated by the net zero industry, in particular in my constituency of Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages, where the largest employer is a manufacturer for the offshore wind sector?

[The Chair]

Order. I would be grateful if hon. Members focused on the statutory instrument, which is relatively narrowly drawn.