Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Draft Digital Government (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2026.
14:04 Stephanie Peacock (Labour)
First, the amendments enable specified public authorities to share information with energy suppliers for the purpose of identifying and supporting people living in fuel poverty who are experiencing energy debt. Secondly, the amendments, laid by the then Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 6 July, specify that Department under the existing fuel poverty objective, enabling the Government Department responsible for data policy to support work assisting people living in fuel poverty, including the national data library kickstarter project. Following the machinery of government changes announced in July, that responsibility is transferring to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Any technical changes needed to reflect the transfer will be made separately and will not affect how these measures operate. A third technical measure clarifies that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero can rely on the fuel poverty objective, in accordance with the transfer of relevant functions to it in 2023.
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Stephanie Peacock (Labour)
I now turn to the third amendment, which concerns the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Its predecessor Department?the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy?was able to share information with certain other public bodies under the fuel poverty objective, and the relevant functions were transferred to DESNZ in 2023, but the relevant secondary legislation was not consequentially amended at that time. This amendment corrects that omission in the interests of certainty.
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Louie French (Conservative)
The regulations will specifically permit the sharing of information to support the delivery of a debt relief scheme, amend the list of fuel poverty measures to enable specified persons to disclose information to energy suppliers for the reduction or cancellation of customers? debt, and amend the 2018 regulations to add the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology?that last one might need updating?to the list of specified persons that may share information. I hope that Ministers will make sure that this Committee is not a waste of time, and that we will not find ourselves here again soon, making another regulation to add other Departments to that list.
Members will know that His Majesty?s most loyal Opposition have long criticised the Government?s broader energy policy. We are clear that consumer debt is rising because impossible net zero targets, such as achieving full clean power by 2030, have driven up energy bills across the country. We reiterate our calls for the Government to take a serious approach that tackles the root cause of high energy prices, rather than raising taxes to pay for temporary solutions.
The Government should therefore adopt our cheap power plan to scrap the carbon tax on electricity generation from gas, as well as removing VAT on domestic energy bills, maximising extraction of our oil and gas resources in the North sea, and committing to reliable, secure power generation from gas and nuclear. Although the regulations have noble intentions, they do nothing to address the underlying problems and costs for consumers. They simply paper over the cracks of a Labour Government already failing to deliver on the promises they made to the public.
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18:13 Stephanie Peacock (Labour)
At its heart, this draft statutory instrument makes three targeted changes. First, it enables information sharing to support households experiencing energy debt. Secondly, it enables the Department responsible for data policy to participate in information sharing under the fuel poverty objective, including through work associated with the national data library. Thirdly, it provides certainty for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, following the machinery of government changes in 2023. Taken together, the three measures will help to ensure that support reaches the households that need it most.
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