Oral Answers to Questions

Tommy Sheppard Excerpts

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend has always championed his local constituents to ensure that they get value for money. We must explore all potential options, local or national, to find the best way to deliver energy security and lower bills in future.

[Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP)]

10. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial support for district heating network consumers.

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

The evaluation of our energy support schemes will conclude in summer 2025. To ensure their bills were fair, supported heat network customers received an average of £1,200 via the energy discount scheme, which closed last month.

[Tommy Sheppard]

That is rather disappointing. I have more than 100 constituents in the Greendykes area of Edinburgh who get their heating and hot water from a communal district heating scheme. The Government have refused to offer them price protection, saying instead that this should be regulated by the business regulation scheme, but that ended on 31 March, leaving those people with no protection at all and facing increases of up to 500% in their energy bills. My constituents want to know: why did the Government wait until the business scheme finished before considering alternative protection for these domestic customers? Why take a year to get them protected and what compensation are the Government going to offer in the meantime?

[Andrew Bowie]

I hear the passion with which the hon. Gentleman stands up for his constituents, and rightly so, given the circumstances that they find themselves in. We are introducing regulations with Ofgem powers to investigate and intervene where prices for consumers appear to be unfair, and to ensure that all heat network consumers receive a high-quality service from their providers. I am happy to meet him to discuss this in greater detail.