Jackdaw Gasfield

Richard Foord Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I will not comment on future decisions, but the decision I am outlining today is clearly taking into consideration environmental impact, and all other decisions will do likewise. The Labour party has a proud record of passing the Climate Change Act 2008 and setting world-leading targets. For those who say that Britain should shrink from the world stage, those decisions have been hugely important for driving the transition to clean power in countries across the world. We are not alone in doing this and we have to do that even more. With consensus across the political divide, we cut emissions enormously. I was there at the closure of our last coal power station. We have made great progress, but there is a huge amount more to do to ensure we break the link with gas, to bring down people’s bills and to tackle the climate emergency, which is no longer some future threat but an ever-present reality.

[Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)]

I am grateful to the Minister for confirming that today’s decision on the Jackdaw gasfield will do nothing to reduce people’s bills. Many of the people I represent have done everything they can to reduce their heating use, but are still paying more than they can afford. Will he say more about the Government’s intention to look at removing standing charges from people’s gas bills?

[Michael Shanks]

We have heard loud and clear that the standing charge is the most frustrating part of the bill for people, because it is not driven by the individual choices they make about energy use but by a fixed price on the bill. The challenge with gas in particular is that we want people to use less, but there is little incentive to do that if the standing charge remains the same. I do not pretend it will be easy: the standing charge still has costs that have to be paid for and the gas network still has to be funded, but the Prime Minister has committed to working through how we can make the standing charge fairer and encourage people to make decarbonisation choices for affordability reasons. That is important for all of us and, crucially, it will bring down people’s bills.