Energy Bill

I want to make some points about fuel poverty, which will be similar to those made by my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) and the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main). The background to our debate is the fuel poverty suffered by one in six families in the country: 4.4 million families, 3 million in England alone and many of those in my Halifax constituency. According to the consumer group Energywatch, more than a tenth of people's income is spent on utility bills. Meanwhile, British Gas has announced a 15 per cent. increase in its bills, and others suppliers—EDF and npower—have raised their prices by 27 per cent. That is unacceptable, but the unaccountable nature of those bodies means that they can get away with increases that hit the sick, the elderly and the poor most. A constituent wrote to me last week to ask"““When was the last time my salary increased by 27 per cent.?””" I fear that these price increases will send many of my constituents into fuel poverty. We need action to bring the utilities into line. We cannot sustain circumstances in which two thirds of British households are paying more, and many vulnerable groups are afraid to heat their homes. I must remind Ministers that there is a real danger that we will not be in a position to eradicate fuel poverty by 2010, which—as was pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood—is a legal obligation. May I make a plea? First, we should adequately fund the Warm Front programme which provides grants for poor households to insulate their homes. Secondly, we should ensure that utilities have an obligation to make their customers aware of social tariffs. Thirdly, we need a wide-ranging Government inquiry into the home energy market. What upsets me most about the Bill is that, unlike the 2003 energy White Paper, it makes no reference to how we can begin to end fuel poverty. That is a lost opportunity, and one of which I and other Labour Members will doubtless be reminded when we are campaigning on the doorstep. It seems to me that energy companies are placing more importance on maximising their profits than on a willingness to offer subsidised tariffs to poorer households to help with their bills. That issue affects Halifax today. We need action now to ensure that another generation of people are not sucked into fuel poverty. I call on the Government to make social tariffs compulsory if the reluctance to agree them voluntarily continues. I find it grotesque that the companies to which I have referred made £2 billion in six months last year.