Speeches by Young.

“I am going to be jumping back and forth at this point because we have covered half the questions. Just going briefly back to planning, we have heard that the socioeconomic benefits of community energy projects are proportionally higher than for commercial developers. How can that be recognised in the regulatory and pla…”

“Marzia, do you have any comments about how it might contribute to reducing grid pressure and network investments?”

“You are saying that it is all back on DESNZ.”

“Stepping back from P441 for a moment, but staying with you, Marzia, we have heard previously on the issue of consumer-led flexibility that it would reduce bills overall. All of our constituents, whatever they think about any of the rest of this stuff to do with energy, want to see their bills cut. Do you think that loc…”

“When I visited The Play Shed in Yate last year, the reduction in retail, hospitality and leisure relief was already costing it £12,000, even before the more recent changes. This package is welcome for pubs and music venues, but what will the Government do to help other leisure businesses in my constituency that are str…”

“My constituents trapped in fleecehold schemes—freeholders on privately managed estates—will still be exposed to escalating, unregulated service charges and have no way of ensuring that the work they are paying for is actually done. The Minister has talked about the consultation and promised that help is on the way, but…”

“When I make inquiries on behalf of constituents about delays at the Child Maintenance Service, I, too, often face a long wait—a wait for a response—despite chasing. The longest delay is currently four months and 20 days. Will the Leader of the House allow a debate in Government time on this issue, so the Secretary of S…”

“In their response to the report, the Government said that in the clean flexibility road map, they have committed “to develop measures focussed on barriers to the participation of low-income and vulnerable consumers in using energy flexibly.” Given what we heard yesterday about the importance of heat pumps and heat stor…”

“The sustainability of imported biomass is controversial. Is it more sustainable in the broader sense than abated methane gas?”

“How economically competitive would BECCS be against abated methane gas in generating electricity?”

“The sustainability of imported biomass is controversial. Is it more sustainable in the broader sense than abated methane gas?”

“Coming back to Alastair, to what extent can Elexon, as a market facilitator, drive efficiencies that have a significant impact on the cost of electricity? In particular, DESNZ, Ofgem, the NESO and the Flexibility Commission all have a role in delivering the commitments set out in the clean flexibility road map. Does El…”

“Given we have the new mileage charge coming, but we also have grants to encourage electric vehicles, do you think the Government are sending mixed signals on EV adoption? Does that have consequences for flexibility?”

“You say you are quite relaxed about EVs. Do you see heat pumps and the heat storage that you were talking about earlier as far more important?”

“Can I start with Alastair for this one? What scope is left to remove market access barriers to flexibility?”

“Can you put a figure on how much that would reduce consumer bills?”

“In terms of equity, are you saying only a small proportion of the population have it, so it is unreasonable to spend public money because it only benefits what are likely to be disproportionately affluent parts of the population? Is that the point you are making?”

“It was said earlier that we need to focus on the big contributors to flexibility, with EVs being one of them. At the moment, is there a noticeable impact of EVs on demand flexibility and reducing peak demand and system costs?”

“Alastair talked about it in terms of being a resource and a problem. Are there drawbacks to having more electric vehicles with bi-directional charging plugged into the grid? If so, what are those drawbacks?”

“In terms of equity, are you saying only a small proportion of the population have it, so it is unreasonable to spend public money because it only benefits what are likely to be disproportionately affluent parts of the population? Is that the point you are making?”