Martin calls for £500 credit crunch cut in energy bills (Cheltenham Liberal Democrats)

Cheltenham Liberal Democrats <info@cheltlibdems.org.uk>

Martin calls for £500 credit crunch cut in energy bills

March 7, 2009 1:28 PM

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT SHADOW ENVIRONMENT MINISTER Martin Horwood told delegates at the party's spring conference in Harrogate this weekend that instead of wasting £12.5 billion cutting VAT, the government should have spent the money on cutting fuel bills for the least well-off.

'People and businesses tell me they have hardly noticed the cut in VAT. If we had committed just £2.3 billion of that money to funding insulation and energy efficiency measures like condensing boilers, we could have completely funded energy efficiency packages for a million of our poorest households and subsidised a million more' said Martin. 'In many older homes with solid walls that would mean an annual saving of £500 or more'

The Cheltenham MP was speaking at a packed conference meeting organised by Green Liberal Democrats with the Energy Saving Trust. The meeting was called to highlight for combining anti-recessionary measures with energy efficiency.

'It makes sense for households, for businesses and for the UK as a whole' said Martin 'If you invest in energy efficiency now, it will start saving you money straight away. Public spending on household energy efficiency will provide a welcome boost for the building trades and many of those small businesses that are being particularly badly hit by the recession. For households at risk from unemployment and cut-backs, this could make a vital difference to their household bills. For businesses, it can make a dramatic effect on the bottom line. Cheltenham-based Plexus Technology told me they could save some companies and organisations as much as 50% of their fuel bills simply by managing their energy more efficiently. And for the UK as a whole, it could make our whole economy more resource-efficient and better-placed to take advantage of the upturn when it comes.'