The Government has not made an assessment of the potential effect of amending the licence conditions to enable energy suppliers to offer normative benchmark comparisons as an alternative to in-home displays (IHD), due to the lack of UK evidence that such an alternative to the IHD obligation would provide a similar range and level of net benefit. However the smart metering rules are designed to allow for provision of additional engagement tools including benchmark comparisons. These may complement the information provided by the IHD and deliver additional benefits. Some suppliers are already providing benchmarked energy consumption information.

By contrast, GB trials and international experience demonstrate that IHDs are instrumental to energy saving. The recently published findings of the Smart Metering Early Learning Project provide substantial new evidence that it is realistic to expect durable consumer energy savings of 3 per cent provided engagement is effective, and that larger savings are feasible in the future.

I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. I have had a number of meetings with Oil & Gas UK and representatives of the oil industry. Having set out in December the fact that the tax regime for the North sea is going to be on a declining path, recognising precisely the issues that he mentions, we have set a clear direction of travel, and the Chancellor will set out our decisions in the Budget next Wednesday. Let me reassure my hon. Friend that this Government take incredibly seriously the need to make sure that we have a fiscal regime that supports maximum economic recovery of the resources of North sea oil and gas.

The Government have made significant progress on supporting the North sea oil and gas sector, including the announcements I made in December about an

investment allowance and other changes, although I recognise that there are very serious ongoing problems at the moment.

My hon. Friend touches on a very significant point. The reality right now is that the reforms are all about long-term economic security. This Government have worked assiduously to ensure that every measure undertaken, whether to back businesses or to create the right tax environment for businesses—he has championed that in his constituency—is the right way forward.

The hon. Gentleman raises a vital point, not least because of the fall in the oil price we have seen in the past few weeks, which is good news for the consumers at the pump but tough in Aberdeen. With the Wood review, we are reviewing and making more business friendly the regulation of offshore oil drilling, and we also have a review of the fiscal regime because our goal is to get every economic drop out of the North sea.

In addition to the measures that I described in response to the hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess), we have already taken action, but intend to take yet more action, to help off-gas-grid customers. We support the Buy Oil Early campaign to encourage people to stock up at good times for price and quick delivery. As my hon. Friend knows, because he attended it, this week we held the fourth ministerial round table on heating oil and liquid petroleum gas to bring together the industry, consumer groups and MPs to discuss these issues. Our amendments to the ECO—energy companies obligation—affordable warmth scheme provide stronger incentives for energy suppliers to install energy efficiency measures in off-gas-grid homes.

As I am sure my hon. Friend is aware, Her Majesty’s Treasury is looking at the tax issues for the North sea and the UK continental shelf. It will report in due course, but he will know that the Wood review, which I commissioned last year, is pressing ahead with legislation. I can today announce the appointment of the future chief executive of the Oil and Gas Authority: a Mr Andy Samuel.

That is a very important point that the ministerial round table discussed in some detail. The issue is not just price but resilience of supply of heating oil over the winter months, particularly when there is bad weather. That is one of the reasons why we have the Buy Oil Early campaign. My hon. Friend is right: we need to work with the industry to make sure that customers who are off-gas-grid and could be vulnerable are registered.

It has been possible in this Parliament to raise the personal allowance to take some of the poorest people out of tax—3 million people have been taken out of tax, with a tax cut for 26 million people—at the same time as making decisions that are fair for all, such as, for instance, making sure the NHS gets an extra £12.7 billion. Of course, we do have to make difficult decisions. Some of the difficult decisions we have made have been looking at things such as the Home Office budget, where the police are being far more efficient than they were, and making changes to welfare, each and every one of which has been opposed by the Labour party. The fact is that if you manage the national finances carefully, get our economy to grow properly and ignore the shadow Chancellor, who nearly bankrupted the country, you can do these things together.

My hon. Friend makes an important point. North sea oil is absolutely vital and we must ensure that we have the tax regime appropriately in place. Implementing the Wood review is absolutely something that we are committed to. My hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel), the new Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, will do an excellent job, and I am delighted to welcome her to the Treasury.

It is estimated that 1 million households were on social or discounted tariffs in the final year (up to 31 March 2011) before the voluntary tariffs were replaced by the Warm Home Discount scheme (Source: Ofgem's Monitoring Suppliers' Social Programme 2010-2011 Report). The Department does not hold information on those households which included people considered especially vulnerable to cold-related illnesses.

The evidence is clear that living in cold homes can have a substantial range of negative health impacts. We have a strong package of policies already delivering assistance to those in need.

These include:

the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) which funds efficient boilers and insulation measures to low income and vulnerable households and is now guaranteed until at least 2017;

the Warm Home Discount scheme, which gave over 1.2 million of the lowest income pensioners £135 off their electricity bills in winter 2013-14, and supported more than 2 million households in total;

Winter Fuel and Cold Weather payments which provide support to pensioners and vulnerable low income groups; and

the Big Energy Saving Network which is providing outreach to consumers, helping them understand tariffs and switching options as well as how they could benefit from energy efficiency programmes available to them.

In July 2013 DECC published the document Fuel Poverty: a framework for future action, this stated Government's intention to continue to prioritise 'vulnerable' fuel poor households (ie those containing an elderly person, a child or someone who is long term sick or disabled) within fuel poverty policies.

We have been discussing links between fuel poverty and health with colleagues in the Department of Health, and Public Health England, at all levels, including ministerial, as part of our preparation for a new fuel poverty strategy.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) in February 2014, specifically to discuss how DECC and the Department of Health can work together to tackle fuel poverty, building on previous collaboration.

I routinely discuss the work of the donor community with our US colleagues and there will be an important meeting, which the UK will be co-chairing, at the end of this year and perhaps running into early next year that will assess progress against the Tokyo mutual accountability framework. At that point we should have a new Afghan President and Government in place, so that will be a good time to take stock of progress and of the challenges that remain.

That is indeed the case and I am confident that they will do so, because the people of Scotland value having the pound sterling as their currency. They value having the Bank of England as a lender of last resort and they value the fact that, as a result, risks and opportunities are spread across the whole United Kingdom.