PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Topical Questions - 17 December 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

We are already seeing the benefits of our energy superpower mission and investment in jobs. Since the start of November, we have seen a £1 billion investment in Hull by Siemens Gamesa, supporting 1,300 jobs in blade manufacturing. Ørsted has announced £100 million of orders for UK firms, and we have reached financial close on the UK’s first carbon capture in Teesside. That is what it means to have a Government delivering jobs and investment for the British people.

There appears to be inconsistency between what Ministers are saying about the report by the National Energy System Operator and what the CEO of NESO told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee last week. Can the Secretary of State answer this clearly: does the NESO report forecast higher or lower energy bills under his policy?

I am very glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked that question, as the shadow Secretary of State has asked me about that. [Interruption.] I will answer the question. Page 77 of the NESO report says very clearly what happens to overall costs in the system: electricity costs are reduced by £10 per MWh. As NESO says, it is for Government to make policy choices that determine the precise impact on bills, but the report is clear that the system will be cheaper. It is completely logical to say that that will lead to a reduction in bills.

I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and members of the scheme. I met the trustees of the scheme yesterday, and I have committed to talking to the Treasury about their proposals.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Labour’s policy on the North sea will cost the country £12 billion in tax receipts, which would be enough to cover the winter fuel payment for many, many years. Pensioners will be in the cold this winter, and this is a policy that no other major economy is pursuing. How can the Government possibly justify it?

These are more fantasy numbers from the right hon. Lady. The truth is that the North sea has lost a third of its employment in the past decade. The only future for the North sea is in what this Government are doing: investing in carbon capture and storage, in offshore wind and in hydrogen. That is the future.

That is not my figure; it is a figure from industry—£12 billion in lost North sea tax receipts, in addition to £8 billion for an energy company that will not generate energy, and at least £200 billion for a 2030 target that we now know will not cut bills. Is it not true that pensioners will be sitting in the cold this winter to pick up the bill for this Secretary of State?

No. The case is that the Conservatives left us dependent on fossil fuels, which led to the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. The tragedy is that they are doubling down on their failed policy. The only answer for lower bills is clean, home-grown energy that we control.

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Great British Energy—headquartered in Aberdeen—is already up and running. Our plans for Great British Energy will be rolled out in the new year. Those plans include working with local communities for solar on schools and hospitals, so that we can start cutting bills for public services and local communities.

The truth is that there is only one way to get bills down sustainably in this country, which is to drive towards clean energy. The Conservatives used to believe that, too; then, in September 2023, the former Prime Minister took them on an anti-net zero crusade, and it is only getting worse.

We are rolling out our warm homes plan, which we want every household to benefit from, and we will ensure that we have the right solution for the right homes. I will work with my hon. Friend and with Members from across the House on solutions that every household can benefit from, to ensure that we have warmer homes that are cheaper to run.

I will not answer the hon. Gentleman directly, but I will say that I am working with my colleagues across Government on this crucial issue. We will do everything we can to drive down Russia’s benefits from its oil and gas industry, because that is a crucial part of the war effort to help Ukraine.

My hon. Friend is right about this. We must not have short memories here, because the truth is that the cost of living crisis that we saw after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not only hit families and businesses across Britain, but continues to hit them today. That is why the drive for clean power is so important. Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we erect, and every piece of grid we build makes us more secure as a country.

We will look at the scheme in the spending review. I believe that it is important not just to Scotland but to the whole UK, but I want to level with the hon. Gentleman and, indeed, the House: it requires significant financial resources. We found the resources for track 1 of carbon capture, usage and storage and we want to find the resources for track 2, but that, as I have said, will be part of the spending review.

My hon. Friend is right to suggest that offshore wind, especially floating offshore wind, will play a critical role in our pathway to clean power. We will consider any option to ensure that we get many “test and demonstrate” projects through to delivery, and we will say more in coming weeks about what the next round of contracts for difference will look like.

More than 24,000 homes in my constituency have an energy performance certificate banding of D or worse, which means 50,000 tonnes of avoidable carbon dioxide emissions and higher energy bills for my constituents. However, the rate of insulation upgrades is too slow for us to meet the Government’s goal of universal band C ratings by 2035. Will the Minister commit herself with more urgency to an emergency home insulation programme with targeted support for those on low incomes?

We recognise that not enough was done to upgrade homes over the last 15 years, which is why we are absolutely running at this. We will upgrade up to 300,000 homes this year, and we are putting in place our plan to drive up standards in the private rented sector, and to ensure that as many households as possible benefit from homes that are warmer and much, much cheaper to run.

My hon. Friend makes an important point about rolling out charging infrastructure to all parts of the country, and we are working on that with colleagues in the Department for Transport. Local distribution networks in rural areas are incredibly important, and introducing greater access to the grid—including through Ofgem’s approval of £22 billion to improve distribution networks—will enable us to roll out EV infrastructure in rural areas throughout the country.

This weekend, 50 households in Cleat Hill were able to return home, nine weeks after the gas explosion there. That was thanks to the efforts of the local council and the local emergency services but not, I am afraid, to the actions of the Government. There has been a deafening silence on whether they will help the council with funding, and whether they will fund a scaling and scoping of the gas reservoir. I am extremely grateful to the Minister for meeting me, but will she chivvy her other Ministers along, so that we can get a reply?

I thank the hon. Member for that meeting. We are working across Government to ensure that we can provide the support that the community requires after that tragic incident.

I recently visited the zero-emission boiler manufacturer Tepeo in Wokingham. Its owners were thrilled by the Government’s decision that heat batteries can qualify for the warm homes social housing fund wave 3, but expressed concern about whether they could scale up without the same subsidy support and VAT relief as heat pumps. Will the Minister meet me, and representatives of Thermal Storage UK, to discuss how we can support heat batteries, so that households can become more resilient?

My hon. Friend is a great champion of our clean power mission, and I would be very happy to meet him and representatives of the sector.

Seventy-five per cent of voters think that all new homes should come with solar panels on the roof as standard. Do the Government agree?

I am very sympathetic towards this issue, and we are in discussions with our colleagues across Government. Watch this space.

Cheshire is leading the way in CCUS, whether it is in hydrogen production, where it is providing the means of transition as a new industry is established, or in hard-to-abate sectors such as glass or cement production, where CCUS is a vital decarbonisation component. Our strategy is creating jobs, growing our skills base and unlocking a low-carbon future. Does the Minister agree that it will not be possible to get to net zero without CCUS?

That is absolutely right.

The Grimsby to Walpole National Grid scheme will see pylons almost twice the height of the existing ones being placed across the flat landscape of the fens. Why does the Secretary of State think that the cost of chasing his unrealistic 2030 target should be disproportionately borne by rural communities?

I have great respect for the right hon. Gentleman. The truth is that we need to build the grid, regardless of whether the target is 2030 or 2035. This Government are being honest and open with people in saying that the grid needs to be built. If we do not build the grid, we will remain massively vulnerable as a country.

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

Last year, the UK imported 43% of our energy. Does the Secretary of State agree that, as well as protecting bill payers from the volatility of international fossil fuel markets and giving us energy independence, we have the potential for economic benefits from exporting electricity and hydrogen through the clean power plan?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. It is about energy independence for Britain, and about becoming a clean energy superpower that can export energy and benefit as a country. The opportunities are huge, which is why we are getting on with it.

I am disappointed in the right hon. Gentleman, but perhaps I should not be surprised. The truth is that there is only one future for Britain that reduces bills for good: a clean power mission. We can carry on being vulnerable, and we can carry on with fossil fuels, but we will be in the grip of petrostates and dictators. This Government are not willing to leave us exposed.

The Lynemouth biomass power station in my constituency has some very ambitious and exciting projects involving carbon capture and storage, but it is waiting for some major decisions by the Department. Will the Minister agree to meet me so that we can tackle these pressing outstanding issues?

I would be absolutely delighted to meet my hon. Friend; we can talk about data centres at the same time. Carbon capture is an incredibly important part of our future. We know that we have to have it in order to decarbonise some of our very hard-to-decarbonise industries, and I would be delighted to talk about the possible jobs that it could bring as well.

Local further education colleges are actively pursuing the formation of a skills partnership to meet the opportunity and challenge of potential small modular reactor development in Oldbury in my constituency. Does the Minister welcome their proactive approach, and will she join me in meeting them to better understand the support that the further education sector needs to deliver this vital work?

I would be delighted to meet the hon. Member and talk about her plans.

What assurances can the Minister give me that energy-intensive industries in Stoke-on-Trent, such as ceramics, will benefit from the investment coming from this Government and will not get left behind in our transition to net zero?

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We were talking about this issue in the Tea Room only this morning, and I will meet the ceramics sector and him first thing in the new year to talk about some of the challenges it faces. We are absolutely committed to supporting the sector.

Thirteen oil and gas fields have been licensed for new drilling of dangerous fossil fuels but are still awaiting final approval. The Government paused those decisions while doing a consultation, but the consultation will not change the science: if we are to meet our climate targets, those fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Will the Secretary of State do the right thing by the poorest in our country, who are always at the sharpest end of climate action, and ensure that those licences will not be granted?

This is a Government with a world-leading position when it comes to oil and gas, and we will do the right thing for the environment and climate change and the right thing to ensure that there is a just transition in the North sea.

On behalf of my constituents, I want to thank the Secretary of State, the Minister of State, the Parliamentary Private Secretaries and the whole team for the excellent work that has been carried out to deliver justice on the mineworkers’ pensions. Can I urge them to act with alacrity in relation to the British Coal staff superannuation scheme, and may I invite the Minister to look at some of the energy pilots that are making use of mine water from abandoned mine workings?

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has been a brilliant campaigner on this issue for a very long time. My hon. Friend the Minister of State will have heard what he said. This is the difference: this is a Labour Government delivering justice for mineworkers across our country and their families, which is all part of delivering our mission for the country.