Speeches by Downie.

“We have heard evidence that change in the electricity system moves at a glacial pace. We have a system that, probably, none of us likes and that none of us thinks works very well, that is not effective and that we are trying to change, but we are not entirely sure how to do that without watching the big block of Jenga …”

“Thank you. Let us move on to talk about where profit currently lies in the energy system more generally—which has come up with a number of witnesses. Who currently benefits from the complexity of the system in energy and the way that the market is set up? Where does the profit lie?”

“NESO’s suggestion was that around £2 billion a year would be an acceptable curtailment cost.”

“At that earlier session I asked the witnesses from NESO what they felt was an acceptable level of curtailment costs. Do you have an acceptable or expected level that you think they should be at in the future?”

“You were hanging an awful lot on the curtailment costs dropping wildly in the future.”

“Minister, just to go back very briefly to when you were talking about curtailment and constraint costs, a couple of weeks back we had evidence from NESO representatives. They did not believe that curtailment costs would ever actually drop; they saw them as part of a natural cycle. You talk about the role of those costs…”

“Following on from the question by the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), what discussions is the Foreign Secretary having in the Gulf on the future viability of convoys, and on other actions? Can the Minister assure me and the House that plans will be put in place for such convoys, when it is saf…”

“I thank the Minister for his statement and for the very quick action taken by this Government. He mentioned his hope that the Scottish Government will act as quickly as this Government have to pass on these savings to people who use heating oil. Will he ensure that we get more than just hope, as we want an assurance th…”

“Specifically on some of the loan conditions, would you say it is important that the loans have things like security against job loss or other elements built in to build that confidence up as well?”

“You have just touched on some of the questions I wanted to ask about loan structures. Specifically, let me ask Peter and probably Brenda the first question: what lessons could we learn from the Green Deal and the Green Homes Grant about how to structure loans properly? How do you start going about building consumer con…”

“What do you mean by expensive? I know it is difficult, but it is important that we have some definition; otherwise, the risk is people will say it is too expensive. They will put a larger cost on it.”

“When Joanne and Sam mentioned the need for more public education, do we need to make sure that we are being open in the beginning about how much this costs? If so, what window or bracket should we be saying? For example, this will cost you X and save you X—certainly the first part, maybe the second part is a bit harder…”

“Finally, as I alluded to in the last session, is there any evidence that scrapping the boiler upgrade scheme could see money saved on energy bills, as we have seen proposed this week?”

“This might be one for Louise, but anyone else can chip in. Do you think the Government are right that up-front costs of heat pumps will fall in the future as this expands? Have they got that right? If not, how do we make sure that the costs come down faster?”

“We heard in the last session—you just mentioned this again, Jo—about the necessity to target those fuel poor or in fuel poverty. Is there enough consumer knowledge and confidence about heat pump technology that would necessitate that upward drive, so people asking for it as well? Or is that something the Government nee…”

“What else would be needed?”

“Sam and Jo have alluded to the need for market certainty to grow businesses. Is the expanded boiler upgrade scheme funding sufficient to meet increases in demand while keeping costs manageable as well? Joanne, can we start with you?”

“Brenda, do you have anything to add?”

“So all those benefits could be put at risk by announcements from political parties suggesting that perhaps this will not continue?”

“Peter, what would your view be on that, and what impact would it have on people’s likelihood to access loans or other support if they felt that it was not going to be there? What effect would that have on their circumstances down the line when it comes to fuel poverty?”