Great British Energy Bill Report Stage: Amendment 8

Parliament voted on 29 October 2024 on Amendment 8 to the Great British Energy Bill during its Report stage (the detailed scrutiny stage in the Commons). The amendment, tabled by the Conservatives, sought to require the government to demonstrate that Great British Energy would deliver on specific pre-election promises: cutting household energy bills by £300 and creating 650,000 jobs. The amendment was defeated by 361 votes to 115. The result means no numerical accountability targets for the £300 bill reduction or 650,000 jobs figure will be written into the Bill. Great British Energy will instead operate under the statutory objects already set out in the legislation, covering clean energy production, energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and securing energy supply, without being legally required to meet the specific figures the Labour Party cited before the general election. Households and workers in the energy sector are the groups most directly affected by whether those targets are eventually met, though the vote settles only the question of whether they are enshrined in law, not whether they will be pursued. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 316 voting Labour MPs and all 36 voting Labour and Co-operative MPs opposed the amendment. All 100 voting Conservatives supported it, joined by all six voting Reform UK MPs, all five voting Democratic Unionist Party MPs, and a handful of independents. No Labour rebels voted with the Conservatives. The amendment sits within a broader Conservative effort at this stage of the Bill to attach measurable commitments to the government's flagship energy company, and the debate formed part of a wider political argument about pre-election promises made during the 2024 campaign.