Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Anderson and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Commons Chamber

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

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. We are taking three additional measures. We are expanding and extending the warm home discount to 2031. We have supported heating oil customers with the £53 million-worth of support that was announced last week, and our £15 billion warm homes plan is the biggest home upgrade plan in British history. All of that is wrapped up in our clean energy mission—clean power 2030—which will ultimately give us control of our energy.

[Stuart Anderson (South Shropshire) (Con)]

T4. Over half of South Shropshire residents rely on heating oil or other solutions, such as liquified petroleum gas, to heat their homes. The recent Government support does very little for the majority of my constituents, and the best price today for heating oil is more than double what it was five weeks ago. There is blatant profiteering. What are the Government going to do to seriously address the issue?

[Martin McCluskey]

We moved swiftly to introduce funding to support people. The £53 million-worth of support, which is being disbursed through the crisis and resilience fund in England and Wales, will provide support for people through this immediate period. We will keep other measures under review, but if hon. Members have examples of unfair pricing practices, it is important that they report them to the CMA so that it can consider them as part of its review.

Energy

Debate between Stuart Anderson and Martin McCluskey

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

If we had built the grid as we had planned to, we would not be paying those constraint payments—that is the whole point. Every wind turbine we put up, every solar panel we install and every piece of grid we construct are helping to reduce our reliance on gas.

[Stuart Anderson (South Shropshire) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Martin McCluskey]

Allow me to make some progress.

In just 18 months, we have made the biggest investment in clean, home-grown energy in British history, with more than £60 billion of Government funding and a further £50 billion of private investment. As I said, we have consented enough clean power for the equivalent of 7.5 million homes, including nine new solar farms and offshore wind farms in the Irish sea and the English channel.

We have started building the next generation of nuclear power, including Sizewell C power station in Suffolk. We have set up Great British Energy, our publicly owned energy company that the Conservatives still oppose. That is already installing solar panels on hundreds of schools and hospitals across the UK, so that money saved on energy bills can go back into key services. We have kick-started Britain’s carbon capture and hydrogen industries as we lead the way on the technologies of the future. That is the immediate difference that this Labour Government have made to our communities.