Speeches by Billington.

“David and Paul, would you add to what Verity has said on that?”

“Verity, I would like to ask you about this, because you represent those small manufacturers in the supply chains.”

“It is probably best for me to ask Paul this. Are certain sectors or types of SMEs more vulnerable to energy price volatility?”

“Sorry, could you explain the difference?”

“Business confidence in that kind of timeframe is challenging.”

“Would it work if you were to exempt PPA buyers from renewables contracts for difference costs or allow PPAs to be set against climate change agreement targets?”

“I suspect that you have told us everything that you will want to tell us under this question, but I will ask it anyway, to give you an opportunity to totally mop up. Are the Government doing enough to support SMEs with reducing their business consumption and costs, for example on advice and support available for SMEs? …”

“That is quite interesting in and of itself. Thank you.”

“I was thinking particularly about only scratching the surface, needing it to be more long term and those kinds of things.”

“David and Paul, would you add to what Verity has said on that?”

“It is thanks to the Secretary of State and, indeed, our Chancellor that we already anticipate a £10 million state-of-the-art health hub in Thanet, which is opening this autumn. That will have a community diagnostic centre, expanded GP services, podiatry, cardiac and respiratory teams, MRIs and support for mental health…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for the improvements she has made to the Bill, which are extremely reassuring for my constituents, 9,000 of whom are on personal independence payments and are now reassured. Some, however, are concerned about the number of adults who could be put into poverty, following the publication of…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman, but may I remind him that although the Access to Work scheme may well be broken, measures in the Bill and the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper deal specifically with how we should improve it for our constituents, many of whom rely on it as a way of ensuring that they can become fully able peop…”

“I am suggesting that it is not actually that difficult.”

“Sorry, Dr Roy, but I have worked in call centres and followed scripts, and like most consumers, I have also been at the other end of those phone calls when you come to impasse. It seems to me that, at that point, it should be quite easy to say in the script, “Thank you very much, Ms Billington. I’m sorry we can’t resol…”

“It is quite a lot of error though, isn’t it?”

“You will be collecting data, won’t you? It will be interesting to see what Citizens Advice data starts to show. Dr Roy, in the last quarter of 2024 just over a quarter of the cases that Centrica was unable to resolve were correctly signposted to the Energy Ombudsman. Why do you think this is and what challenges do supp…”

“I take your point. Alex, thank you also for what Citizens Advice do. I need to declare an interest in that I worked for Citizens Advice for some time and know the value of what you do as well as valuing the bureau in my constituency. You have the statutory advocacy role for microbusinesses, which is particularly import…”

“On Dr Roy’s point about the Financial Ombudsman Service being on a statutory footing, and yet you do not always get a result, what does that say to you about the value of a statutory footing?”