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Fuel Poverty Bill

I believe that we have to get prices down for consumers. The price of energy needs to drop. I am concerned about fuel poverty, and the constituents whom I represent, but I am also concerned about business, which cannot afford energy prices either. Prices have gone through the roof, and there is no justification for it; prices should have dropped for everyone. We have touched on properties, which are part of the issue. Properties need investment in measures such as double glazing and insulation. We have mentioned all the ways in which we believe that we can help people. The problem is that we have already done that work, in a lot of cases. On social housing estates, council properties and former council properties, councils have rightly taken advantage of all the grants available, and have put in double glazing and insulation, and installed modern boilers. The truth is, however, that people cannot afford to put on the boiler. After all that work has been done, they still cannot afford their energy bills. That is the real problem, and it is a dilemma. We have to look at that seriously, and we must seriously do something about it. The cost of energy is the problem. The Government had an excellent track record on dealing with fuel poverty. We were on target, and were working very hard to reach that target, but two things happened. First, prices went through the roof, and that put many more people into fuel poverty. Secondly, as unemployment rises, more people are put into fuel poverty. That is why we have a dilemma. How do we deal with it? The long-term view taken is, quite rightly, that we must bring properties up to the right standard, to ensure that we can make it cheaper for people to access energy. However, the quick fix is to reduce the price of energy; that is what we really need to do. Companies do not wish to reduce their prices, but we have a responsibility, and we have to take a hard line with them. Voluntary agreements are wonderful, but they do not quite work. I would say, "Get your act together, and get prices down quickly, especially for electricity, or we will do the one thing that you don't want us to do: set up a windfall tax." I believe that that is a way forward. There has to be use of the stick. We have tried the carrot; that does not seem to work. People have rightly mentioned eaga. We all have horror stories to tell about eaga. In Lancashire, we had a good track record, but all of a sudden, we seem to have more and more problems with, and complaints about, eaga. It is a question of degree.