Reading Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats in Reading have slammed the Conservative MP for Reading East after a Private Members’ Bill to tackle fuel poverty, officially supported by his party, fell because too few Conservative MPs turned up to vote the bill through.

The Fuel Poverty Bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat MPDavid Heath, proposed steps to make homes more energy-efficient. The Bill would have forced energy companies to offer their lowest tariffs to the most vulnerable households, but was rejected in its second reading in the House of Commons this afternoon. It received 89 votes for and two votes against – but needed 100 votes to proceed. The MP for Reading East failed to turn up alongside nine out of ten of his Conservative colleagues – in spite of his party “officially” backing the Bill. The Labour Government officially opposed the Bill.

The failure of the Bill is set against Reading Borough Council committing much-needed resources to pursuing problem landlords after a cross-party Scrutiny investigation instigated and led by Liberal Democrat Councillor Daisy Benson. Figures released by the campaign group Consumer Focus show that over 6,000 households in the Reading East constituency suffer from fuel poverty. Liberal Democrats believe that the number of residents affected in Reading East is much larger due to the number of multi-occupancy homes in the town.

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate for Reading East, said:
“I am going to make sure the thousands of Reading East residents living in sub-standard rented accommodation punish Rob Wilson for failing to turn up. The inaction of Rob Wilson and his Tory colleagues has cost vulnerable constituents the chance of cheaper energy bills.

People in Reading East should not have to face a choice between heating and eating. The Labour Government has done far too little in twelve years to tackle this.

Reading East needs a Member of Parliament who will fight for local people – and turn up and vote on the issues that matter. Yet again, Rob Wilson has shown he is not prepared to do the work that local people deserve of their MP.’

Redlands Cllr Daisy Benson, who as Chair of Housing Scrutiny has led a campaign for better standards in private rented housing and won extra resources to tackle problem landlords, commented:-

“Local people have worked hard to support our exercise to put rented housing into the spotlight. Far too much of Reading’s rented housing is not energy efficient – risking ill-health, wasting money and adding to carbon emissions. It is appalling that the local Conservative Member of Parliament thinks this issue is not important enough for him to turn up to do what he is paid to do and vote.”

Editor’s Notes:

A full breakdown of fuel poverty figures by (old) constituency can be found at: the Consumer Focus website.

According to their figures some 6,388 households in Reading East (16% of all households) are in fuel poverty; the figures are likely to underestimate the true figures in Reading East, where housing costs are higher than the UK average.