Schools are being forced to choose between paying heating bills and keeping classroom teachers, the chair of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has warned.
Dame Meg Hillier told the House of Commons, during the opening debate on Tuesday (10 May) on the Queen’s Speech, that she has surveyed schools in her Hackney South constituency about the impact of rising energy bills.
Increased energy costs means that the schools are having to opt for heating or keeping a teacher, the east London Labour MP said: “It is either having our children freeze in a classroom but being taught by a teacher, or a warm school where children can concentrate on learning but they lose that crucial classroom teacher. That is the stark reality.”
Dame Meg Hillier was one of a number of MPs who queued up to raise concerns about energy costs during the debate on the speech, which outlined the government’s legislative programme for the new session of Parliament.
Leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said the government ‘s proposed Energy Security Bill, announced in the speech, failed to measure up to the challenges that surges in international prices pose to the UK.
He said: “That means standing up to those vested interests who oppose onshore wind, the cheapest and most reliable source of electricity that we have, but this prime minister is too weak to stand up to his back benchers.
“It means investing in the insulation we need to use less energy in our homes. That would take £400 off energy bills every year and cut gas imports by 15%, but this prime minister is far too concerned with vanity projects ever to prioritise investment in insulating homes.
“We are left with an energy bill not up to the moment. It is the latest chapter in a pathetic response to the cost of living crisis.”
However, the bill was welcomed as “excellent” by Theresa May, who said it contains “much” that will help the UK’s transition to the 2050 net zero introduced by her government in 2019.
The former prime minister also urged the government to move ahead with raising building standards so that new homes will not have to be retrofitted to make them energy efficient.