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Proceeding contribution from Graham P Jones (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 14 September 2011. It occurred during Debate on bill on Energy Bill (HL).


Energy Bill [Lords]

In these final 15 seconds, I should like to say that there are real concerns in the Bill for the poor people of this country. There is the potential for high interest rates on the loans; the pre-payment meters issue has still not been resolved; and the energy company obligation is a regressive tax, because the energy consumption differential between rich and poor will not be that great, and it is going to hit low-wage households. On the ability to pay, we have the issue of the ECO in hard-to-treat homes, and people who are on low wages but who have the ability to pay may be excluded, so the Government have real issues to sort out there. The Bill is not clear about doorstep mis-selling, whereby vulnerable people could be taken advantage of, so the Government need to tighten up on that, and the whole private landlords issue has just been a sop to the landlords, not to the tenants. That is a real problem, because a child now aged one might be 8 years old before they get the opportunity to benefit from the green deal and from insulation, and that is of great concern. I rest my 15 seconds there.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
532 c1144-5 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Disclosure of information Consumers Decommissioning Conservation Climate change Apprentices Billing Finance Environment protection Energy Fuel poverty Housing improvement Insulation Interest rates Landlord and tenant Local government Low incomes Protection Ministerial responsibility Payments Nuclear power stations Ministers Prices Private rented housing Subsidies Green Investment Bank Green deal scheme Energy company obligation Social tariffs
Legislation
Energy Bill (HL) 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk