Saudi East-West Oil Pipeline

Debate between Vikki Slade and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

I was not expecting to have an ideological debate on a Tuesday afternoon. I have said, and I repeat again, that we are using the resources from North sea oil and gas and we will continue to use them for decades to come. But if the Conservative party wants to put all its eggs in one basket and reject the renewables generation that is coming from this country right now, that is a road to nowhere. This is about energy security and national security.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Residents in my constituency, such as my constituent Rhys, have contacted me worried about the impact of this situation on their bills. He shopped around, has a renewable-only tariff, insulated his home and bought an electric car. Although he welcomes the VAT cut to electricity, he says that the recently announced increase in the cap and the one he is now expecting in January will more than wipe it out. He says that throwing money at consumers does not deal with the huge profits or change supplier behaviour. Will the Minister accelerate plans to fully and quickly decouple electricity prices from the wholesale price of gas?

[Martin McCluskey]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. We took VAT off electricity bills from October and we took £150 out of costs last year. I encourage her and any of her constituents who are struggling with their energy bill to also make sure they are looking at the warm home discount, which is a further £150 off energy bills. We are looking at what more we can do to provide support through autumn and winter. We have already taken steps to start to decouple the price of energy from gas, as part of the previous Administration, and we will continue to look at what more we can do in that area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 7th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

The Government have worked with Ofgem to bring forward low or no standing charge schemes, which are supposedly open for trial. I cannot find them and neither can my residents. The access to those schemes is so small, so what are the Government doing to make them available to more people now?

[Martin McCluskey]

I will share details of that with the hon. Lady. We are also undertaking the cost allocation review, which deals with those issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

T7. Much of Dorset is blessed with solid-wall, thatched cottages—you must visit, Mr Speaker. That includes our National Trust village of Shapwick, where Slate cottage sat empty for two years because it would cost £100,000 to bring it up to the minimum energy efficiency standards, and the National Trust just could not do it. It has now sold the cottage, which is a real loss to the community. What will the Minister do to help landlords such as the National Trust to resolve this problem?

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

We are working closely with heritage organisations to tackle precisely that problem. The hon. Lady will see in the warm homes plan that there is specific advise about retrofitting historic buildings. [Interruption.] Although they are not in her constituency, I will be visiting some projects soon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

The hon. Lady makes a pertinent point about the previous Government’s handling of some of the schemes. We are picking up the pieces and making sure that a similar situation does not and will not ever happen again. That is what we are absolutely focused on as we take this forward over the winter.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Many thousands of my residents live in park homes, in places such as Regency Heights and Stoborough Green, and have no ability to choose their energy supplier and limited access to a lot of schemes. What is the Minister’s Department doing to make sure that they have access to the warm homes initiatives? Further, as their properties are often considered chattels, they cannot access some of the other programmes.

[Martin McCluskey]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. As we look towards the future of the schemes, we are looking at how they can be applied to a range of different types of properties. I know that there have been particular issues with park homes, and I think she may have corresponded with me on that. I am more than happy to meet her to discuss how we take this forward and maybe remedy some of those issues in future schemes.