Speeches by Billington.

“I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for his statement and note the emphasis he has put on there being no return to the status quo, particularly in relation to the importance of energy independence. Will he acknowledge that we are now entering a new energy era, and perhaps he agrees with President von der …”

“Does the right hon. Lady agree with her shadow Energy Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), when he said: “Look, nobody’s saying that net zero was a mistake. Net zero in the round was the eminently sensible thing to do. We need to decarbonise and we need to have an ambitious ta…”

“My right hon. Friend will be aware that this energy crisis offers the opportunity to shift further and faster on clean energy. Will he consider an energy social tariff linked to the warm homes plan to support those who are most exposed to the volatility of fossil fuel prices, not just those on benefits, but other vulne…”

“I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his statement. Giving support to people who are off grid is vital; however, Thanet Earth, which is near my constituency and employs a number of my constituents, actually grows 20% of the tomatoes that are sold in this country. The business is profoundly energy intensive and is d…”

“Much of the discussion has been about tightening up the process. It has become increasingly clear from the documents already in the public domain that this is as much to do with the personnel delegated to make this political judgment. Will my right hon. Friend explain how tightening up the process might ensure that suc…”

“indicated assent.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Thanet, we are welcoming to people who play by the rules, but unfortunately it appears that the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) forgot his manners and did not notify me of his visit to the wonderful, tolerant and open-minded community in Cliftonville for the b…”

“Okay, I think that is politely put, Dr Boardman. What might be an effective way of changing this from exemptions to incentives, even if you maintain the cap?”

“Yes, I was interested in that because I am concerned that we have a set of energy efficiency standards that are not enforced, a cap which basically gives people a get-out and no incentive to do the right thing, which feels like the wrong set of rules.”

“What would you have in it?”

“Well—”

“Yes, I was going to ask about that.”

“I am interested in the EPC metrics. I have been banging on about EPC reform for a long time. What is the best way of designing those to drive down real bill reduction—both bill reduction and carbon savings? We know one of the problems at the moment is you put a heat pump in and it does not improve your EPC rating.”

“Well—”

“Sometimes it takes me a bit of time to get there, though.”

“There is a risk that we put a new set of standards in and unless we have a new enforcement regime, it will be as bad as the old one.”

“Okay. I have one further question before I relinquish my right to speak for a bit—just for a bit.”

“Apologies for being a bit late. I would like to ask about the minimum energy efficiency standards. As we know, they have been around but were effectively unenforced by local authorities because they did not have the resources to do so. I am particularly interested in them in relation to the private rented sector in pla…”

“Thank you.”

“Right, okay. It would be helpful, I think, from your evidence if we were to be able to summarise it as: the minimum energy efficiency standards need to be able to make sure that we have not just got guidelines but also resources for local authorities to be able to enforce them. A £10,000 cost cap might be fine, but you…”