Speeches by McCluskey.

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 17 March. Since 2011, the warm home discount has supported low-income and vulnerable households b…”

“Committee rose.”

“That is why we need a balance of universal and targeted support. Currently, through the price cap, those on dual fuel bills will be receiving an average reduction of 7%. Alongside that, we have targeted support for the most vulnerable people in society. I think that that provides us with the right balance to ensure tha…”

“It is per year.”

“I thank hon. Members for their speeches. The hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan asked why there had been a delay in laying the draft regulations. The delay was because of continued negotiations between the UK Government and the Scottish Government. At the outset of the discussions with the Scottish Government, there was…”

“Fifty per cent of grants provided through the boiler upgrade scheme, which is our primary vehicle for providing people with grants for heat pumps to replace—”

“If the hon. Gentleman will let me finish the point, I was going to say that 50% of those are to rural homes. I am not trying to dismiss the fact that there are some properties where it would not be appropriate to fit a heat pump because of the fabric, although adaptations can be made. However, we are seeing from consum…”

“Unfortunately, the Scottish Government are not allowing the data to be shared because of the pre-election period. I would argue that that is not what the pre-election period is meant for, and I will continue to have those discussions with the Scottish Government. I know that other hon. Members in Scottish constituencie…”

“No one has said that this is the extent of all the support that will be on offer: I have been very clear about that, both in the Chamber and whenever I have been asked the question. The point of immediate support now was to provide people with relief from an immediate crisis. We have been very clear—the Chancellor was …”

“As I said, once the funds are disbursed in Northern Ireland, just as across the whole of the United Kingdom, we will make an assessment as to what further work might need to take place. I will have further discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive. We are obviously keeping every option under review, especially as…”

“As the hon. Lady knows, the Department runs a range of programmes. We took the decision to abolish ECO4 because it was not working effectively. In some cases, it was costing more to find people who needed the measures than it was to deploy the measures. The Department has been provided with an additional £1.5 billion, …”

“I thought we were about to end up in an “I am Spartacus” moment. [Laughter.] It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for raising this vital issue and giving us the opportunity to discuss it at length, since it is an important area that…”

“I hope the report will come back to us some time in June, and then we will examine it to determine what may be required in terms of further action. I want us to move as quickly as possible. I have another meeting with the chief executive of the CMA tomorrow to discuss progress on the market investigation and ensure tha…”

“Well, the hon. Member was a Member of the party that was last in government, let me say that, and I find it difficult to listen to him tell us about the lessons that we should have learned. We should never have been in this position, and we should not be in a position again where we are facing higher energy prices beca…”

“I will turn first to the comments made by the official Opposition, and the call to scrap the renewables obligation scheme. I want to put it on the record that it is simply not realistic to scrap that scheme. We took a deliberate decision to remove 75% of the RO from bills and to move that on to general taxation. The sh…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. This Government are fully committed to fighting people’s corner to tackle the cost of living crisis. Across the energy system and more …”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s advocacy for those people. No one with a terminal illness should have to face concerns about their energy bills. I will soon be meeting the Minister for Health Innovation and Safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), to discuss how Government can better share data i…”

“We have supplied £17 million to the Northern Ireland Executive, and I had a constructive conversation last week with Minister Archibald about how that is deployed. We will keep other measures under review as the situation develops.”

“The hon. Lady will know that this is a windfall tax on windfall profits. If there are no windfall profits, there will not be a windfall tax. The motion calls for an end to the ban on oil and gas licensing. The Government have been clear that we will support the management of existing fields for their lifespan. That is …”

“I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add: “welcomes the Government’s approach to the future of the North Sea, which maintains existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime, as well as introducing Transitional Energy Certificates while accelerating the transition to clean…”