I apologise, Mr. Cook, for your not being informed that there was a change in the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for today's debate. I congratulate my right hon. Friend Malcolm Bruce on initiating the debate at this most opportune time and on raising a number of issues that affect my constituency and that of our hon. Friend Danny Alexander as much as they affect his.

The problem affects not only rural and remote areas, but urban areas. Indeed, the difficulty of dealing with energy inefficient homes is particularly acute in the private rented sector, where the cost of improving the efficiency of a home falls on the landlord, but the benefits accrue to the tenant and to the country as a whole through the reduction in carbon emissions. Particularly in houses in multiple occupation, the incentive to invest and contribute capital is sometimes not supported as well as it could be by the current systems.

First, I shall discuss families in fuel poverty and their difficulty in budgeting for fuel costs. Such families are faced not only with variability in the weather-we have just experienced one of the coldest winters for many years, when people needed to use more energy and to produce more heat-but with the incredible volatility of energy prices. As a consequence, it is very difficult for them to budget for their energy needs. People in fuel poverty spend more than 10 per cent.-or, if they are in extreme fuel poverty, more than 20 per cent.-of their income on fuel. Fuel takes up so much of their income that any changes in that amount have a disproportionate effect on the money that they can spend on other things.

The Government have a duty to consider that matter in some way. I know that the Minister cannot influence the weather, although he may wish to do so in the future if he ever gets the opportunity again, but providing some stability in energy prices so that people can budget much better would be to their advantage and would reduce the impact of fuel poverty. There are ways in which that can be done, for example, social tariffs, to which I may return, but first I shall pick up some of the points that my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon made, particularly about hard-to-treat homes.

The people who live in such homes often suffer from a triple whammy because their homes are not only an older type of property, with solid walls and other types of construction that make it difficult to improve efficiency, but they are off the gas mains. The people who live in such homes suffer many accumulated problems of fuel poverty. An issue that perhaps has not been discussed very often is listed buildings. Double glazing was raised in another context, I think, but it is often not allowed in listed buildings because of the planning process, so one form of fuel efficiency is often ruled out for such buildings. However, many innovative builders and carpenters are designing double-glazed windows that reflect the architectural traditions of listed buildings and could be used, so perhaps the Minister could intervene with his colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government to see whether something could be done along those lines.

My right hon. Friend mentioned external and internal cladding, but one can imagine the planning difficulties that would be incurred if people set about altering the appearance of listed buildings. That is one problem that has not been addressed to any extent. I live in a listed building-perhaps I should have declared an interest-and recently had to apply for planning permission to install solar panels. Although that process has been eased recently, it certainly was not an encouragement to involving myself in that type of improvement.

Households that are off mains gas can experience problems. Households in my constituency use not only oil, LPG and wood, but coal, because many of my constituents live in old mining communities and for a long time benefitted from free coal because they worked in the coal industry. Not many of those families still benefit from that, but the widows of former coal miners still have coal delivered on the street outside their house and have to get their sons or nephews to cart it round the back so that it can be used. There is a range of fuels, but all are much more expensive than mains gas. Indeed, in a little village in my constituency, Garth, I came across a group of elderly people living in local authority accommodation who had decided to switch off their LPG supply because its sheer cost made it impossible for them to heat their homes. The homes were poorly insulated and they were putting their health and lives at risk as a result.

What can be done? My right hon. Friend mentioned extending the gas mains, which really would be a long-term solution for fuel poverty for so many people. However, as Mr. Drew pointed out, the cost to individuals of having the gas mains extended is often beyond their means, and the investment would probably not produce a return in their lifetime, or even that of their children if they live in the same home after them. Will the Government consider either encouraging or subsidising gas companies to achieve a greater reach for gas mains? As I said, that would be a long-term solution to the problem.