Matthew Pennycook: What fiscal steps he is taking to help achieve a net zero carbon economy.
Matthew Pennycook: A robust carbon price is essential to achieving a net zero carbon economy, yet despite the transition period ending in just 30 days’ time, companies still have no precise idea what will replace the EU emissions trading system, which the UK will cease to participate in at that point. The House has already passed the legislation required to establish a stand-alone UK ETS, but there is no sign...
Matthew Pennycook: It is a real pleasure to respond on behalf of the Opposition to what has been an extremely interesting debate. I thank all Members who have contributed this afternoon, the members of the Climate Assembly for taking part in the process and, in particular, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) for securing the debate and for the focused and well-argued speech with...
Matthew Pennycook: I thank the Minister for the detail he has provided in his response. I should make it clear that the statistics are his Department’s own published statistics, so if he has different figures, I urge him to bring those forward in the monthly publication so that we can see them. I am putting figures to him that his own Department has published. On developer liability, the Minister has again...
Matthew Pennycook: As I was saying, the Minister must surely recognise that the Government cannot argue that height should not be the sole, or even the main, determinant of investigations but then make height the main criterion for access to public funding. Nor is it equitable, as my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi) touched on, that leaseholders continue to bear the exorbitant costs, the...
Matthew Pennycook: The hon. Member makes an excellent point, which I will pick up on towards the end of my remarks. To my mind, either the Government are responsible, in terms of defective regulation over many years, or builders are responsible, in terms of defective buildings. I cannot accept that the leaseholder, who of all the parties involved bears the least responsibility, is potentially being landed with...
Matthew Pennycook: May I begin by thanking you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for granting the debate, and the Minister for taking time from his schedule to respond? The debate concerns a subject of the utmost important to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of leaseholders in my south-east London constituency, and to hundreds of thousands more people across the country. For those who have not followed the twists and...
Matthew Pennycook: I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I agree that the costs of waking watch are absolutely staggering. Leaseholders are already paying those costs, as she makes clear, in a way that is financially unsustainable for many of them. I will pick up on that point later, not only in what I will say on the fund, but in talking about leaseholder liability and whether leaseholders are being...
Matthew Pennycook: If we are to sustain public support for the goal of net zero, it is essential that we maximise the benefits of the green transition here at home, but there are far too many examples where the promise of that green transition risks not being realised. One such case is the plight of the BiFab engineering yards in Fife and Lewis, which represents a clear failure to utilise industrial strategy to...
Matthew Pennycook: When concerns were voiced earlier about the implications that flow from the fact that rateable values in some parts of the country are far higher than in others, the Chief Secretary could only point to discretionary grant funding. However, not only has the detailed guidance that would allow local authorities to distribute that discretionary funding not yet been published, but it will be...
Matthew Pennycook: If we want business to play its full part in reducing emissions and to finance the innovation and infrastructure critical to the transition to a low-carbon economy, the Government need to address the very real barriers to private investment. One obvious way to do so is through a national investment bank with a clear mandate to channel both public and private capital towards projects that aid...
Matthew Pennycook: It is a real pleasure to take part in what has been a good debate. I commend the Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones), for his characteristically thoughtful and articulate opening remarks. The quality of my hon. Friend’s contribution was matched by many others that followed, and I mention in...
Matthew Pennycook: Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes a very good point: other countries have done it and we have been calling for sector-specific packages for those in most need. The Government have done it for steel; let us get on and do it for aerospace and the other sectors that need additional support. A number of other Members mentioned the environment and climate emergency. Given the primacy of the climate...
Matthew Pennycook: It is a pleasure to respond to this wide-ranging and well-subscribed debate on behalf of the Opposition. I start by thanking all right hon. and hon. Members who have taken part in the debate today, and the right hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) for opening it. I also pay tribute to the initiators of each of the petitions under consideration and, by my calculation, the...
Matthew Pennycook: The COP26 summit, now rescheduled for November 2021, will be a critical moment in a fight against runaway global heating. We all have a stake in ensuring that it is a success. Building momentum for that summit and establishing our credibility as its host is dependent on demonstrable leadership at home. In that regard, does the Minister agree that there is a strong case for publishing our...
Matthew Pennycook: What recent steps he has taken to help ensure the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding from high-rise residential blocks.
Matthew Pennycook: I thank the Secretary of State for his response. He will, though, I know, be conscious of the additional strain that—[Inaudible.]
Matthew Pennycook: Will the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care please speak to his right hon. Friend the Environment Secretary about what more can be done to guarantee essential food supplies to those who are symptomatic and self-isolating? In the absence of the Health Secretary’s national volunteering scheme, which is not yet in operation—at least, not in my part of south-east London—people...
Matthew Pennycook: My office is inundated with pleas for assistance from leaseholders who cannot sell or remortgage their properties because of post-Grenfell advice on cladding and building safety. I have applied for a Westminster Hall debate, but can we have a debate in Government time about the mortgage crisis and cladding? It is clear that the external wall system process is not working as it should.
Matthew Pennycook: What plans he has to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise living (a) near and (b) under Heathrow airport flight paths.
