Speeches by Onn.

“So you are not prescribing anything. You are not going to say, “It is a 70:30 split. We think local is going to deliver much higher capacity than community, so we will put the bulk of our support or expectation behind that”.”

“It really does not fit with what we have just been talking about, so I am sorry. I am going to take you back to the definition of community projects. I am wondering how clarity will be served on what the whole of Government agree is community energy, if there end up being two definitions, one in the national planning f…”

“Level of detail is a very good lead-on to my question. We have been wrestling with the definitions of local energy and community energy. It has been suggested that we need to have that bottomed out. We have a definition of community energy in the national planning framework. It says, “Community-led development. A devel…”

“Do you know when it will be developed by?”

“Helen, community energy groups and projects are diverse, to say the least. How do you pick winners as GBE? What are the key criteria?”

“Have you thought about the split that you envisage happening?”

“There is an element of picking winners in that, really. That is fundamentally what GB Energy will be doing. You have a role in delivering that 8 GW.”

“Are you going to be explicit about that in the local power plan and in relation to the information that was provided to the Committee earlier in relation to the responsibility and accountability for the 8 GW target?”

“Level of detail is a very good lead-on to my question. We have been wrestling with the definitions of local energy and community energy. It has been suggested that we need to have that bottomed out. We have a definition of community energy in the national planning framework. It says, “Community-led development. A devel…”

“I worry a little bit—and I do not know whether you share this worry—that, as soon as you move into a shared endeavour without the right levels of support or necessarily the right pressure coming from the driver, you will not reach the targets or ambitions that you have set yourselves.”

“In terms of making sure that projects stay community-focused and do not become a proxy for other energy groups to exploit, how do we make sure that they are genuinely community-focused? Who is going to take responsibility for that?”

“It is welcome that the Government agreed with the Select Committee that we should be more ambitious about smart meter roll-out, so that household customers can get the best tariffs for them. We also heard evidence that there was a lack of consumer confidence in smart meters. Does the Chair of the Select Committee think…”

“Does my co-chair on the all-party parliamentary group on fisheries not think that the marine spatial prioritisation programme, which was introduced last summer, will do exactly the job he is hoping to see delivered?”

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee for making time for this debate and for restoring it to the main Chamber, as we have been asking for many years. I congratulate the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee—the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), who co-chairs with me the…”

“Citizens Advice submitted evidence that energy networks have made excess profits of £3.9 billion since 2021. Is there any element of that figure that could go into reducing bills for individuals? Or do you dispute the figure?”

“Do you think that those profits will go down over the next five or six years?”

“Ultimately the Government have said, “We are going to bring down consumer bills.” But when we are discussing this with consumers, we have to say, “Oh well, it could have been an awful lot worse.””

“Are you doing enough to explain this to the likes of Citizens Advice which, when it comes to consumer-facing support and messaging, probably has a better route to the general public than the ENA?”

“If the 40p that you just mentioned is not on consumer bills, is the immediate alternative in general taxation?”

“Lawrence, I am interested in the written evidence submitted by the Energy Networks Association. In the subheadings, it says, “How flexibility has helped deliver savings, including reduced customer bills”. It refers to consumers saving £500 million between 2023 and 2024 by using energy more flexibly. We also had some ev…”