Martin McCluskey
MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West · Labour · United Kingdom
“Member’s questions about the methodology and why we are, in his words, supporting heat batteries ahead of other forms of electric heating, the responses to the consultation we ran in 2025 showed broad support for expanding the scheme to additional electric technologies.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It was only after that deliberation that we decided to include heat batteries in the boiler upgrade scheme. On his final question around the value of the £2,500 grant, we arrived at that number largely because it was judged to be the best amount, given the lower cost of heat batteries versus heat pumps.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The draft regulations are an important enabling step towards the future inclusion of heat batteries within the scheme, helping to ensure that consumers can benefit from a wider range of low-carbon heating technologies.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth to his new role. I am sure this will be the first of many Committees in which we will face each other. Turning to the hon. Member’s points, he obviously heard what I had to say yesterday about departmental budgets.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I gently say to him that his party had 14 years in Government in which to reduce the spark gap and did not make much progress. Since we have been in Government, we have made sure that the reduction in levies has fallen heavily on the electricity bill rather than just on gas, and also adopted contracts for difference and encouraged compani…”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The draft regulations amend section 100 of the Energy Act 2008, which provides powers for the Secretary of State to establish “a scheme to facilitate and encourage renewable generation of heat” in England and Wales. At present, those powers apply only in relation to specified technologies and energy sources.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) (Specified Period) Order 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. The draft order was laid before the House on 26 January this year. This Government remain fully committed to ensuring that households, particularly those on low incomes or at risk of fuel poverty, can live in warmer, more energy efficient homes that are affordable to heat. At the heart of that endeavour lies the warm homes plan, which is a comprehensive and long-term strategy to reduce energy bills, alleviate fuel poverty and enhance energy security. We have committed to investing £15 billion, the biggest ever public investment to upgrade British homes and cut energy bills.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some £5 billion of the £15 billion for the warm homes plan is focused on low-income households. As I said earlier, an additional £295 million is already being funded through those schemes, in addition to what was already budgeted for in these scheme years. Finally, on remediation, which I know has interested and concerned hon. Members across the Chamber when we have discussed this subject before, I want to repeat that it is really important that people come forward for those audits. The supply chain and the system stand ready to remediate homes, but we cannot do that without people coming forward for those audits. I thank all hon. Members for their contributions to this debate. As I said, the instrument before us will ensure that the ECO scheme concludes in an orderly, responsible and consumer-focused manner.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Many of the warm homes local grant and warm homes social housing fund projects I have visited in the short time I have been doing this job are benefiting from a combination of insulation alongside modern technology such as heat pumps, batteries and solar. For every building and project, it is about getting the mix of measures correct to deliver warm homes and lower bills. It would be remiss of us to publish a plan in this day and age that did not reflect the technological changes of the 10 years and the efficiency of batteries, heat pumps and solar, which are helping people to drive down their bills today. We intend to consult on the integration of the two schemes shortly. Again, I impress on hon. Members that we will not be left without a scheme for low-income people.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The deployment of the new scheme from 2028 will involve integrating those two schemes, which are working right now and are already delivering measures to people’s homes. I have also heard, not just from hon. Members today but more generally, the idea that we are no longer standing behind insulation. I would not want people to leave this Committee with that impression. The warm homes plan has a significant focus on new technology, but also on insulation, and I anticipate that the amount being deployed for insultation will remain. I agree with the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire: there is no point deploying measures onto homes that are leaky and will not keep people warm and dry.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“First, we have set up a taskforce alongside industry and the Local Government Association to bring together the bodies that procure from small and medium-sized enterprises in the ECO supply chain. That has already borne some fruit; hon. Members may have seen last week that an additional £295 million, announced to run through the warm homes local grant and the warm homes social housing fund, will provide a bridge through to the additional schemes that will come in future. I would like to push back gently on some of the points about the lack of a fuel poverty plan. Significant amounts of money are already being deployed through the warm homes local grant and the warm homes social housing fund.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have already contacted all affected households. We are encouraging everyone to come forward for an audit. If any Committee members have affected households, I encourage them to ensure that their constituents take up the offer of an audit. There is no route to remediation without constituents contacting us to ensure that they get an audit. As I said in the House, I think in October, this will happen at no cost to the consumer. It is backed by guarantees that will ensure that it is paid for through the system and the supply chain, not drawing on any additional funds, at this stage, from the Government. On the supply chain more generally, we recognise the fact that there has been disruption—the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire raised this as well. We have done a number of things to try to combat that.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank hon. Members for their contributions to the debate. I will turn briefly to each of the points that were raised. The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire asked about cost. The measure comes at no cost, and there is no additional funding behind the amendment. It is an extension of the obligation largely to ensure that remediation is conducted on those properties that require it. That comes at no additional cost. The bill savings that the Chancellor outlined in the Budget stand, and consumers will see them when they receive their energy bills on 1 April, after which the new price cap will see energy bills reduce by 7% over the price cap period, funded by the move of 75% of the RO to general taxation and the abolition of ECO from bills. On the second point, the remediation programme is moving at pace.”
House of Commons23 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I should say to hon. Members that I have a terrible cold and I can barely hear at the moment, so if I do not answer any questions, it is not because I am avoiding them. The warm home discount scheme has been a key policy in the Government’s approach to tackling fuel poverty and reducing the energy costs of low-income and vulnerable households ever since its inception in 2011.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The warm home discount scheme will also continue in Scotland to winter 2030-31 with £92 million a year of funding allocated. Fuel poverty is devolved in Scotland and, under these arrangements, the Scottish Government have determined eligibility for the next scheme period in Scotland within the funding envelope. Separate regulations have been laid in this Parliament to continue the scheme in Scotland, and I look forward to discussing these regulations with the House in due course.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The current scheme period ends on 31 March 2026, and new regulations are therefore required to continue the scheme beyond that date. In September, we consulted on continuing the warm home discount scheme up to and including the winter of 2030-31. The consultation respondents, including consumer advocacy groups, charities and industry, strongly supported proposals to continue the scheme and to continue providing rebates to vulnerable households via automatic data matching. Today, we are discussing these regulations, as well as some additional changes to the scheme that will allow eligible households across England and Wales in or at risk of fuel poverty to continue to receive the rebate for the rest of this decade. Members will note that the regulations relate only to the scheme in England and Wales.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that my hon. Friend is a champion for her constituents in Holbrook and across her constituency. Like many hon. Members, she will have seen the increase in the numbers of people this year who are eligible for the warm home discount because of the decision made by the Government to expand the scheme to 6 million households. Her constituents and the constituents of all hon. Members will benefit from that this year. Last year, the Government expanded the warm home discount scheme, removing the high cost-to-heat threshold to ensure that an additional 2.7 million of the poorest households across Great Britain received the £150 rebate off their energy bills this winter, with nearly 6 million households now eligible overall.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We recognise that too many households cannot afford to heat their homes at a reasonable cost. That is why, in January, we published our new fuel poverty strategy alongside our warm homes plan, to ensure that many more fuel-poor households are protected by 2030. The continuation of the warm home discount scheme through these regulations will provide vital support for eligible households each winter, at the coldest time of year when support is most needed. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Where a household is deemed unmatched, the Government will continue to notify them to contact the warm home discount helpline to determine their eligibility for that scheme year. The regulations make provisions for a late rebate of £150 to be paid by a scheme supplier if the Secretary of State is satisfied that an eligible household did not receive a rebate in the preceding scheme year due to an administrative error by a scheme electricity supplier, the Secretary of State or Ofgem. In addition, the regulations will replace fixed spending targets with annual estimates based on the number of eligible households expected to benefit from a rebate each winter to predict more accurately scheme costs. Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for the Government.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The value of support available for industry initiatives will continue to be updated as under the current scheme period. The regulations will also introduce changes to the administration of the scheme and enhance consumer protections for eligible households. The regulations also include a new provision that can enable the Secretary of State to direct suppliers to communicate directly with our own successfully data-matched customers to provide further information about the scheme, including information related to automated decision making. Where that provision is used, the Government would continue to notify households that are known as unmatched households, following the automatic data matching process, where additional information or evidence is required to determine their eligibility.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The regulations set out a range of permitted activities overseen by Ofgem, through which energy suppliers can deliver towards their non-core obligations, supporting eligible households in fuel poverty or that are in a group at risk of fuel poverty. Permitted activities include benefit entitlement checks, energy efficiency measures, energy advice, debt relief and financial assistance payments of £150. Scheme energy suppliers can also choose to dedicate non-core spend towards the park homes scheme, which I know is of interest to a number of Members, who have corresponded with me on the topic. It provides eligible households with £150 of support towards their energy bill. Industry initiatives provide vital support and are often delivered by the third-party partners of energy suppliers, including charities.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The automatic data matching process for the core group in England and Wales will continue, using data held and processed by the Department for Work and Pensions, with the majority of eligible households—typically around 96%—expected to be automatically data matched, meaning that they will receive the rebate without taking any action. In addition, the regulations will continue to oblige scheme-supported energy suppliers to participate in the industry initiatives element of the scheme. Industry and consumer advocacy groups strongly supported its continuation in the consultation ahead of these regulations.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Following the removal of the “high cost to heat” threshold and the expansion of the scheme in 2025-26, the Government are committed to maintaining the current eligibility for the rebate in England and Wales, based on receipt of means-tested benefits, for a further five years. Eligibility for the scheme remains unchanged, but the regulations introduce a more streamlined approach to administration, without impacting eligibility. The existing core group 1 and core group 2 will be merged into one core group in England and Wales, with a view to enabling clearer communication and messaging to potentially eligible households. That change was broadly supported by consultation respondents. We put out a range of communications ahead of and during each scheme year to eligible households, and will continue to do so for the next scheme period.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The regulations will continue to oblige energy suppliers with more than 1,000 domestic accounts to participate in the scheme. The regulations will ensure that, as is the case currently, energy suppliers with fewer than 1,000 domestic accounts can choose to participate voluntarily in the scheme. Under the scheme, participating energy suppliers are obliged to provide support to eligible households through a rebate provided directly to their energy bill, valued at £150. Eligibility for the rebate will continue to be set out by the Secretary of State in an eligibility statement, which is published for each scheme year.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I accept what the hon. Gentleman says about fuel poverty having a disproportionate impact in rural areas. The warm home discount applies equally, regardless of whether someone is in a rural area or an urban area, but the Government are taking other actions including through our warm homes plan, which has a particular focus on rural households, and rural retrofit to ensure that everyone is able to take advantage of it. Other areas of the Department’s work are focused on rural homes. Turning to the detail of today’s statutory instrument, it will introduce the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2026. These regulations will extend the scheme in England and Wales for five more years from 2026 until they expire in 2031.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We discussed that in the Chamber just a few months ago. His policy, which would see us turn away from clean power, is, bluntly, a road to ruin. We would expose people to further volatility in fuel prices and to the fact that we are already over-exposed to the price of gas. We would also continue to make ourselves reliant on energy supplies that are coming from petrostates. Over the last few weeks, we have seen the impact of being overly reliant on oil and gas supplies coming from overseas.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank hon. Members for their contributions. On the points raised by the Opposition Front Bench spokesperson, in Q2 of this year energy bills will be lower than they were in 2024. He does not need to take that from me; he can see that in the research of the Resolution Foundation. He talks about expensive costs of energy. I agree that, in this country, we have some of the most expensive energy. That did not happen in the 18 months of a Labour Government, that has been building for a number of years, including during the period that he was in this role in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The only thing that seems to have changed with the hon. Gentleman over the last 18 months is that he has abandoned his commitment to clean power and net zero, which was well documented, not just in Hansard , but on his own website.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On ECO, there were instances where, for example, about half of the cost was going into finding people to apply measures to, rather than actually applying measures, so from a value for money point of view, we needed to make sure that that worked far more effectively. To sum up, we are committed to delivering the £150 warm home discount for at least another five years to support the households in England and Wales who need our help most. The regulations will deliver a warm home discount scheme that is more transparent and provides stronger consumer protection and greater clarity around eligibility. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee. Question put and agreed to.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Lady talks about cold, leaky homes, and that is obviously a focus of the Government’s £15 billion warm homes plan, which is investing in that area. I will gently say to her that, while we did cancel the ECO programme, that was because it failed and did not provide good value for money. We have put an additional £1.5 billion into capital schemes through DESNZ, which will reach low-income people across the country. I point towards the announcement that was made by the Secretary of State on Sunday about the additional funding that will go into mayoral combined authorities, and elsewhere, for low-income schemes. That is from that £1.5 billion that resulted from the cancellation of ECO.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is something that I have had discussions about, not just with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology—and she may be aware of the kickstarter programme that is looking at how we can better share household income data—but with the Department for Health and Social Care too, specifically, around how we share data on vulnerability and health. There are some really great examples at a local level. For example, Beat the Cold is an organisation in Stoke that is already sharing data between local NHS organisations and third sector organisations in order to reach the right people with vulnerability. The point for me is, if that can be achieved on a local level, we should be able to achieve something similar on a national level. The hon.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am happy to be barracked under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. Turning to the point that the hon. Member for Broxbourne raised, he knows that it would not matter if additional oil were extracted from the North Sea—it would not reduce the price of domestic energy in this country. It would not have any impact. If he has evidence to the contrary, I will be more than happy to take another intervention for him to demonstrate that energy prices would reduce if we extracted more oil from the North sea. No? Okay. Moving on to the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, I thank her for the constructive tone of her speech. On the point around debt, Ofgem have consulted on a debt relief scheme, and more will be coming on that in the near future. On data sharing, I share her desire to ensure that there is far more data sharing.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why we are directly helping those affected by the spike in heating oil costs; it is why we are cracking down on any suppliers who are cancelling orders or jacking up prices, while working at pace to ensure that the sector is properly regulated; and it is why, despite the opposition from parties on the other side of the Chamber, we are doing everything we can to take back control of our energy, ending our reliance on these unstable global fossil fuel markets and instead bringing in an era of new, clean, home-grown energy that we control in this country—an era of economic growth, new good jobs, unprecedented investment and real energy security. That is how we will ensure that ordinary working British people never pay the price for foreign conflicts and our overdependence on fossil fuels again. I commend this statement to the House.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We will bring forward the next renewables auction, just months after our most successful ever auction secured enough power for the equivalent of 16 million homes. We will make plug-in solar available for the first time in Britain so that families can buy a low-cost panel straight from a supermarket and set it up on their balcony or in their garden. We will speed up the delivery of our £15 billion warm homes plan—the largest home upgrade programme in British history. We will also reform nuclear regulations following the Fingleton review so that we can fast-track new nuclear power stations. Behind every decision this Government take is a simple principle. Whatever the challenges, we will always support working people; we will always fight their corner.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thirdly, this conflict is yet another reminder that we must get off the rollercoaster of global fossil fuel markets as soon as possible and on to the path of clean, secure, affordable energy that this country controls. This is the only way to protect the British people from energy price shocks and ensure that we are no longer buffeted by the headwinds of conflicts that we had no part in starting. Thanks to our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, we have already brought in £90 billion of investment in clean energy, but now, in the light of events in the middle east, we have set out a package of measures to help us go even further and faster in pursuit of national energy security.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are going to put that right by exploring what regulations might be needed to ensure that consumers get a better deal and by exploring new ways to ensure that households are better protected. This will include: securing an agreement with industry on a strengthened code of practice to rapidly provide enhanced protections to customers; introducing stronger consumer protections in the heating oil market, which could cover dispute resolution, a greater variety of repayment options for those facing hardship, greater price transparency and enhanced protections for vulnerable groups such as the elderly; supporting the CMA’s plans to carry out a more comprehensive examination of the UK’s heating oil industry; and exploring the creation of a new ombudsman or the appointment of a regulator such as Ofgem to champion consumers.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This Government will not tolerate profiteering or unfair practices, so we are in daily contact with industry to understand the drivers of recent price movements and have reminded heating oil distributors of their commitments under the trade association code of practice. The Chancellor has also written to the Competition and Markets Authority to ask it to remain vigilant across heating oil prices and to tackle unjustified increases, and we urge customers to share any evidence of price manipulation with the CMA. We also recognise that the heating oil sector is currently under-regulated. Unlike gas and electricity, the heating oil market is not regulated by Ofgem.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In England, funding will be distributed by local authorities via the crisis and resilience fund, which comes into effect from 1 April, and £3.8 million will be passed to the Welsh Government and £4.6 million to the Scottish Government to deliver to affected households through existing programmes. I am today calling for the Scottish Government to ensure that this money is passed to Scottish families as quickly as possible. Secondly, as well as providing direct support for consumers, we are working with the sector to ensure that pricing is always fair, transparent and justified.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are allocating this funding where the greatest need is, based on census data, and it will go directly to the devolved Governments with the expectation that it will be used to support vulnerable households. We know that this is a particular issue in Northern Ireland, where almost two thirds of homes rely on heating oil, and we have allocated £17 million to support them. We will continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive on all our plans that I will outline in this statement, given the particular circumstances that exist there and the reliance on heating oil.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“With Iran continuing to target energy infrastructure and shutting off the strait of Hormuz, the price of crude oil on the international market has rocketed, and I know that the 1.5 million UK households that use heating oil to heat their homes will be understandably concerned. Indeed, some customers have already reported prices doubling or being unable to secure a delivery at all. Let me be clear that this Government will not stand by and let British families suffer. Let me set out the direct action that we are taking today. First, we will always stand up for the most vulnerable in our society, and I can confirm to Parliament that we are committing over £50 million to help low-income families who use heating oil.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I take my responsibilities under the ministerial code very seriously and will make sure that that message is communicated. With permission, I wish to make a statement on the action we are taking to protect British people from the soaring costs of heating oil due to events in the middle east. It is now more than two weeks since the conflict in the middle east began. My thoughts and the thoughts of the whole House will be with the millions of people affected, including the British citizens in the region and the troops serving there, but just as we saw four years ago when Putin invaded Ukraine, the impact of this conflict is being felt far beyond the battlefield.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Gentleman will also know that more extraction from the North sea will not reduce the price of energy. We are a price taker, not a price maker. That is not our road to cheaper energy for households.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why Northern Ireland comes out with £17 million, Scotland with £4.6 million and Wales with less. It is not a Barnett share; it is based on the number of households that use heating oil. Finally, I do wish that the hon. Gentleman would stop coming to this Chamber and talking down the UK’s oil and gas sector. [ Interruption. ] No, I do wish that he would stop talking it down. He has implied from his Dispatch Box that the taps are being turned off in the North sea; they are not. The North sea is working today at full capacity and has been for some time. On Thursday, I was in Aberdeen, speaking to workers in that sector and to workers in floating offshore wind, who will benefit from our decision to invest in clean energy. If we take our eyes off the opportunities that will be available in future, it is a road to ruin. The hon.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I hope that they will work at the same speed as this Government to ensure that they are available on 1 April, but all nations already have crisis funds available that they could be deploying for this purpose, just as we will be deploying them for this purpose in England from today; if there are people in crisis now applying to the existing household support fund, they will be eligible for support from today, and the additional funding will come after 1 April. The hon. Gentleman talked about the funds being Barnettised, but the funds are not being Barnettised; Scotland is not being, in his words, short-changed. The funds are being allocated based on census data on how many heating oil-fuelled households there are in each individual nation.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“LPG will be eligible in so far as the English schemes that we have funded additionally today through these actions, and we are making that clear to local authorities in a letter that has been sent from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers today. It will be for the devolved Administrations—Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland—to determine how they distribute the funds.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Dear, oh dear! Where to begin? I will do my best to wade through the many points that hon. Gentleman raised. First, the energy price cap is reducing on 1 April because of actions that this Government took to take £150 out of energy costs. That will see every bill in this country reduced. People listening should hear that their bill will go down in April, and that is protected to the end of June. The hon. Gentleman appears to be criticising us for a lack of speed. If he would like to volunteer how many days it took for the last Conservative Government to provide support for people on heating oil, I am all ears. How long did it take his party in government? It took them nearly 200 days. We are around three weeks into this conflict in the middle east, and we have come forward with support today.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am always happy to come to the Committee; I understand that discussions are ongoing about a longer evidence session just on the warm homes plan to give it the attention that I am sure my hon. Friend agrees it is due. I agree that the warm homes plan should target some of the lowest-income people in our country. That is why we have allocated well over £1 billion for some of the low-income schemes in the warm homes plan, and why we have also focused on how we target rural households, many of whom will be affected by the heating oil situation.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Lady’s comments regarding the warm homes plan, the low income fund will target many of those people. She may also be interested to know that about 50% of the grants given out under the boiler upgrade scheme are to rural homes, many of which will be in this situation, that are transitioning from oil heating to electrified heating through a heat pump.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the hon. Lady for her constructive tone, for working together on some of this, and in particular for her comments on the need to move towards a transition to ensure our energy security and, ultimately, to lower bills. On the hon. Lady’s point about a cap, the market for heating oil, as she will know, is very different from the market for electricity and gas. The reason that the price cap was introduced many years ago was the potential loyalty penalty that existed, whereby consumers who were with an individual company for a long time were penalised for that. Heating oil, by contrast, is supplied through a highly competitive market. That is why we have asked the CMA to look at this in more detail and we will examine its findings to establish what regulation may be required. On the hon.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that my hon. Friend has been a champion for such industries in her constituency, including Thanet Earth. The Minister for Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald), is working through the implications of this crisis for such businesses as we speak, and will come forward with plans in due course.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member makes an important point. I know Ministers in my Department have been discussing that with the CMA and will carry on doing so. The CMA has started its work looking at the heating oil market and will, I hope, come forward soon with proposals that we can examine, to determine whether further regulation is required.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that my hon. Friend has been fighting hard for his constituents in Northamptonshire during this crisis. We are topping up the crisis and resilience fund with this additional funding across England that will be available from 1 April. Local authorities in affected areas have received notification today of the additional funding that will be available to them, but they can also use existing means to distribute funds to those in crisis, without waiting until 1 April. The message to my hon. Friend’s constituents would be to contact their local authority today, and that more funding is coming on 1 April.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Once again we hear a voice from the Opposition talking down the UK’s oil and gas sector. The North sea is not being shut down. [ Interruption. ] It is not being shut down; it is producing oil and gas today, and will play a role in this country for years to come. It is also important for Opposition Members to remember that not a single barrel of additional extraction from the North sea will reduce the price of energy in this country. It will not help any of our constituents with the cost of their energy.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend was one of the first people to come to me with concerns around the heating oil situation in his constituency. The Minister for Energy had these discussions with the Scottish Government towards the end of last week, and I will have further such discussions over the next few days. I would hope that the Scottish Government take as wide an interpretation around their crisis funding as this Government have about England, and ensure that it is made clear to local authorities that the support is available for those on heating oil and those on liquefied petroleum gas. How the devolved Governments distribute those funds is, obviously, a matter for them.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My priority, and that of the Government, in dealing with the situation in the middle east has been to come forward as quickly as possible with support, which today we can guarantee will be available for those on heating oil from 1 April. For constituents who do not use heating oil, electricity and gas prices will reduce on 1 April by 7%. We will keep the situation under review. It is fast moving. Three weeks ago, we would not have thought that we would be in the situation we are in today. We will keep the matter under review, but our priority has been to get this money to the people who need it as quickly as possible.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I can give my hon. Friend that assurance, and the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness has written today to the leaders of councils in areas that are receiving additional funding to make this clear.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will write to the hon. Lady with the details around her local authority area, but we are confident that the amount going into the crisis and resilience fund—both additional and current funding—will be enough to meet the demand for this period while the heating oil prices are increased. As I said to other hon. Members, we will keep the situation under review as it progresses.”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗