Speeches by Reader.

“Last week, the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee heard from Make UK and representatives from the chemical, petrochemical, steel and ceramics industries that closer alignment and collaboration with the EU on energy pricing is critical to reducing bills. That is also recognised in the Government’s industrial strateg…”

“I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for leading us through the report. It is right that sometimes Select Committees pose more of a challenge to Government. In this case, I think it is right to call out that, while the Department is doing great things and working at pace, we need to ensure that everything is joine…”

“As a member of the Select Committee, I enjoy that I can give a wry smile every single week when academics, non-governmental organisations, consumer groups and industry say they had so much delay and faffing from the Conservative party and now we are getting on and delivering. On zonal pricing, it is fantastic to see th…”

“East Hunsbury primary school in my constituency has been named the kindest school in Britain. Will the Leader of the House join me in commending the school, Kelly Roberts the mental health lead, and, in particular, all the students who put themselves forward to be kindness ambassadors? Does she agree that in our acts i…”

“That would be quite beneficial where you have people living on premises, like in pubs.”

“So, whoever is going to do that exploration—if there are opportunities at DESNZ or it is going to be DEBATE, or whoever is owning that with the industrial strategy—we want to see that sooner rather than later to be able to benefit from those benefits you are talking about. Is that fair?”

“Any final comments on that?”

“Before I begin, I should just declare I am a member of the all-party parliamentary beer group, and we had a very good dinner last night at the annual parliamentary beer awards, supported by the British Beer and Pub Association, just in case there is any suggestion of conflict. We had a lovely milk stout last night with…”

“Paul, we heard from EDF, and it felt that that was not appropriate, because SMEs have their own usage patterns and requirements. For your members, would a price cap work, given the variety of them?”

“Do you think Ofgem is doing enough to address transparency and make sure customers are treated fairly in the business sector?”

“David, the BBPA did recommend to us that a price cap would be appropriate particularly for their sector. Do you think that sector-specific caps, like for hospitality, where there is such an economic and social benefit from the sector, would be appropriate?”

“Verity, anything more on regulation?”

“This is a very minor one. Paul, you mentioned the warm homes plan. How do you see that working for business? What is the recommendation there? Sorry, I did not quite follow.”

“That would be quite beneficial where you have people living on premises, like in pubs.”

“The industrial strategy talks about the benefits of the Government’s deal with the EU and exploring re-entering the EU electricity market. Do you think that would be a good idea for your industries?”

“This is a very minor one. Paul, you mentioned the warm homes plan. How do you see that working for business? What is the recommendation there? Sorry, I did not quite follow.”

“Verity, anything more on regulation?”

“I was just going to pick up on the point you made, Chair. When we lose our sovereign production, we then have to go overseas. Particularly for chemicals, that puts us in quite a difficult position for supply chain. When industry is thinking about energy costs, do you see enough from Government on the impact of supply c…”

“I guess we have heard the answer to my next question all the way through the session. Is this having an impact on international competitiveness? I wanted to explore that a bit more. If we did solve this energy cost issue, would that really drive investment from your businesses into the UK? Is that really the big issue …”

“On the advice service, didn’t you say that there already is one offered by industry? Should Government offer that if industry is already providing an advice service?”