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PRESS RELEASE : More families to benefit from lower bills through plug-in panels [June 2026]
The press release issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 16 June 2026.

Retailers join government plans to bring plug-in solar panels to UK homes, helping families save money on bills.
- B&Q and Currys join Government plans to bring plug-in solar to UK homes
- Rooftop solar panels are already saving families up to £480 a month
- Government launches consultation for industry views on ensuring consumer safety
More families are set to save money on bills as flagship retailers Currys, B&Q, Amazon and Lidl join Government plans to bring plug-in solar panels to UK homes.

At a roundtable of some of the biggest retailers in the country, with a combined total of almost four thousand stores and significant online presence, Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey discussed the crucial role of plug-in solar in the clean energy revolution.

Those in attendance included Amazon, Asda, B&Q, Currys, Screwfix and Wickes, who discussed the technology and how it can offer a cheaper route for people to save money on bills.

This follows rule changes announced by the government earlier this year that will allow UK homeowners to self-install plug-in solar panels in the coming months and builds on savings of up to £480 consumers can already make from rooftop panels.

Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey said:

Plug-in panels can be transformative for renters or those on lower incomes, so I welcome the conversation today with household names such as B&Q and Currys showing a huge amount of support for getting the panels in people’s homes.

This easy to install tech can cut people’s bills and help make the UK less reliant on global fossil fuel markets.

John Boumphrey, UK & Ireland Country Manager, Amazon said:

This is a fantastic opportunity to make renewable energy more accessible to people around the UK. Amazon is the largest corporate buyer of carbon-free energy in the UK – we’ve invested in over 40 large scale solar and wind projects to date.

Enabling households to generate their own power with self-install plug-in solar panels is a practical step that supports household budgets and delivering against net zero goals.

Graham Bell, CEO of B&Q, said:

We welcome the introduction of plug-in solar panels to the UK market, which will help households to generate their own energy and reduce their bills. This builds on our existing range of portable solar and battery solutions.

We are working closely with Government and suppliers to understand and help shape the guidance, ensuring any products we offer are safe, compliant and straightforward to install. We look forward to making plug-in solar available to our customers as soon as possible.

Georgina Hall, corporate affairs director at Lidl GB, said:

At Lidl GB, we want to make sustainable choices affordable and accessible to every household which is why we are supporting DESNZ’s latest steps toward modernising regulations for ‘plug-and-play’ technology.

By establishing a clear, robust framework to bring plug-in solar to market safely and efficiently, it could unlock a highly effective, low-cost route for people to reduce their energy bills. We welcome this consultation and look forward to working alongside the Government and industry partners to explore how these products can safely play their role in the UK’s clean energy revolution.

Michelle Gorringe-Smith, Director of New Categories at Currys, said:

We’re delighted to be working with DESNZ to bring plug-in solar panels to the UK market. With energy bills continuing to rise, enabling the safe roll-out of these products will mark an important step for consumers across the UK – including the more than 80% of UK households that shop at Currys.

This technology, already widely used by households throughout Europe, is easy to install and could save many households significant amounts on their energy bills, while helping make the UK less reliant on global fossil fuel markets.

The low-cost panels can be put on balconies or in any outdoor space, providing free solar power that can be used directly through a mains socket like any other device, without an installation cost, thereby reducing the amount of electricity taken from the grid.

Alongside the roundtable, the government has today (16 June) launched a consultation seeking industry views on enforcing the rules so consumers can safely install plug-in panels in their homes.

Households across Britain are already embracing solar power in record numbers. 2025 saw a record 269,000 solar installations completed in the UK – the highest total ever recorded in a calendar year and 37 per cent larger than the year before.

Around 255,000 of these were rooftop solar – meaning at least 95 per cent of all new solar was installed on homes, businesses and other buildings. This equates to a new rooftop solar installation every two minutes throughout 2025.
16/06/2026
PRESS RELEASE : Government publishes Terms of Reference for Wholesale Digital Markets Champion [June 2026]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 16 June 2026.

Government has today set out in further detail what Chris Woolard will focus on and deliver.

The published Terms of Reference, Terms of Reference – Wholesale Digital Markets Champion (PDF, 209 KB, 3 pages), sets out how he will lead industry in driving the adoption of digital technologies across UK markets, increasing competitiveness, driving down cost and enhancing resilience.

On 21 April, the government appointed Chris Woolard CBE as the Wholesale Digital Markets Champion to provide market leadership and support industry progress on the development of a tokenised wholesale financial markets ecosystem, as well as to support the government’s work to deliver a more efficient and competitive financial sector.

Following a meeting between the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Chris to discuss the forward plan for this work, the Government is today publishing the Terms of Reference for this role, setting out how the Champion will work in partnership with industry and government to accelerate the digitalisation of UK wholesale financial markets.

Under the Terms of Reference, the Champion will provide leadership to co-ordinate the sector’s wider implementation of digital as outlined in the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, which was published on 15 July 2025 as part of the Leeds Reforms. The strategy covers the immediate steps to optimise UK markets by replacing outdated processes, as well as medium to longer term steps to transform UK markets by realising the benefits of emerging technologies, particularly the adoption of tokenisation through use of distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The Champion will:
1. Establish a cross-industry taskforce, with representatives from across the market ecosystem, to provide input and support.
2. Deliver a report to the Chancellor, developed with the sector, covering how UK wholesale markets can best adopt tokenisation and other related technologies, as well as how the sector and government can ensure DLT interoperability.
3. Promote the delivery of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy across the sector.
4. Co-ordinate with the Chairs of the other workstreams (on AST and DEMAT) as they implement their programmes to deliver T+1 and remove paper shares.
The Terms of Reference sets out a clear timetable for delivery. The Champion will provide an initial forward look, including plans to establish the industry taskforce, by July 2026. A full report on DLT adoption and interoperability will be submitted to the Chancellor by July 2027. The appointment will run for 18 months, with ongoing work to support implementation of the strategy across the sector. The role is unpaid.
16/06/2026
PRESS RELEASE : Pubs, shops and local assets protected with communities in charge [June 2026]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 16 June 2026.

£61m fund to encourage people to save treasured local assets announced as part of a set of reforms to put more power in the hands of communities.
- £61 million fund to encourage local people to step in and save pubs, shops and other community gems
- Communities Secretary Steve Reed announces cash boost in part of a wider £301 million package to support high streets, drive community control and back local people
- Package builds on wider £5.8 billion Pride in Place programme, handing real power and money to local people who know their areas best
Pubs, shops and other treasured high street gems will be saved from closure more easily thanks to a new £61 million package to back local communities announced today (16 June).

This government’s latest Pride in Place initiative, a new Community Right to Buy Fund, will hand people in deprived areas the money they need to step in and take over community assets at risk of closure otherwise – allowing pints to continue flowing and community centres to keep bringing people together in their areas.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed announced the investment at a speech in London earlier today as part of a package of measures, building on wider reforms in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act to allow people to take over treasured assets. This funding is part of the £301 million announced by the government to support our high streets and community spaces.

Further action was committed to on tackling profiteering in the temporary accommodation and children’s social care sector, allowing councils to spend taxpayers’ money on what local people want to see, alongside making it easier for social housing tenants to take control over their homes.

These reforms build on the government’s commitment to shift more power out of Westminster and empower communities, including through the £5.8 billion Pride in Place programme.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed said:

I am pushing power out of Whitehall and into the hands of the people who actually use these high streets. They know what they need better than any politician in Whitehall.

We’re backing communities to step in and save these high street gems, building on our drive to give communities the key to their own future and power over what matters to them.

The Communities Secretary also announced:
- Streamlining Right to Manage: Supporting social housing tenants to come together, take control of their homes and estates, and make housing managers accountable to the people who live there. Reforms include stronger enforcement action where serious mismanagement puts residents’ safety at risk, as well as calling on social landlords to encourage tenants to take up the Right to Manage.
- Test and Learn funding: The Test, Learn and Grow programme is putting people at the centre, starting small and building on what works – empowering frontline staff and local places to respond to what users need. Crucially, it is also about growing this way of working. To build regional capability and ensure that learning from the programme is diffused across the country, a £10 million Test, Learn and Grow Capability Fund is being launched to support up to 20 places. The fund will first be targeted at those already involved in the programme, with a specific focus on extending learning beyond individual local authorities and across sub-regions, through Mayoral Strategic Authorities and clusters of local authorities working together. It will then expand to new locations later in the autumn.
- Community Power Pilots: Supporting community groups and local authorities in up to 25 areas with £15 million in funding to transform services for residents with their input.
- Commitment to tackling profiteering: The government will work with councils in London to compare the prices of temporary accommodation, stopping companies exploiting different parts of the state. Further action will also be taken in the children’s social care sector where profiteering off vulnerable children is leaving councils on the brink.
- Commitment to support better use of local data: Ineffective data sharing is hampering local authorities from delivering better, more joined up services. To fix this, DSIT is developing standardised data sharing agreements for central government and wider public sector, including local governments to use, reducing administrative burdens and speeding up processes.
16/06/2026
Tim Farron – 2026 Speech on Thames Water

The speech made by Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment, in the House of Commons on 16 June 2026.

I start by associating myself closely with the Secretary of State’s remarks about Jo Cox. It was a privilege to serve alongside her in this place, and we still miss her deeply.

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of the statement and for the helpful briefing that I received earlier. Since Conservative privatisation more than 35 years ago, some £85 billion of billpayers’ money has flowed out like a torrent into the pockets of mostly overseas shareholders and executives paying themselves unearned bonuses. That money could and should have gone into cleaning up our waterways and modernising infrastructure. Instead, sewage was released into our lakes, rivers and seas for 1.8 million hours last year, and more than 100,000 of those were in the Thames region alone. Some 20% of our water leaks out of its pipes before it even reaches our homes. For Thames Water, the figure is even worse, with 25% of that water wasted.

Now Thames Water’s investors are asking for more time for more opportunity to take money before they inevitably run. The Secretary of State is right, then, that the creditors’ offer is a disgrace. They get to keep making money, and Thames Water billpayers get to pay even more to keep them going, while getting the privilege of seeing long-overdue infrastructure improvements delayed for yet another decade. Thames Water is taking the mickey. The Liberal Democrats say, “No more, and no thanks.”

It is clear that Thames Water has failed in its basic performance as a water company, and that gives the Secretary of State all the reason she needs to place it into special administration, so why is she not doing that instead? Her letter to Ofwat is, I am afraid, a sign of dreadful weakness. She has to beg an equally weak Ofwat to show a resolve that it institutionally lacks. Thames has failed in its performance, so just put it into special administration and migrate the company to a mutually owned model, where the billpayers own the company and call the shots. That way, investment will be made, sewage spills will stop and water leaks will cease. By doing that, she could begin the process whereby all our water companies are owned not by private equity, overseas investors or the sluggish state, but by the people. If she did that, she would win the favour of people from Witney to Windermere. Why does she not stop faffing about and do that instead?

Emma Reynolds

I thank the hon. Gentleman, I think, for his support for my statement today, although it was slightly half-hearted. He is right to say that there have been serious pollution incidents in different water companies, but especially in the Thames, and that is of grave concern to the public and to Thames Water’s customers in particular. I point out to him that there are two types of special administration regime. An insolvency SAR is an insolvency process and is for the company directors to determine. A performance SAR would be triggered if a company was in serious breach of its statutory duties or if the company breaches an enforcement order in a way that is so serious that it is inappropriate for the company to retain its licence. The Government stand ready for all eventualities, including a SAR.

16/06/2026
Toby Perkins – 2026 Speech on Thames Water

The speech made by Toby Perkins, the Labour MP for Chesterfield, in the House of Commons on 16 June 2026.

Thames Water customers are paying the price for the incompetent regulation that allowed Macquarie to saddle the company with eye-watering debts at the same time as its environmental performance was so disgraceful. That debt ultimately led to shareholders writing the equity value down to zero. Those who bought the debt are now making this proposal. I entirely understand why the Secretary of State would not want customers to receive a service that was failing in its environmental responsibilities while they paid higher bills, but what assessment has she made as to whether Thames Water is a viable business? We have been told that this is the final offer from the company. Is there a viable business there that will deliver long-term investment within a reasonable cost window for billpayers? If there is not, at what point does public administration become inevitable?

Emma Reynolds

As I set out in my letter to the regulator, Ofwat, I am concerned that the proposal will mean delays to environmental improvements and to improvements to water infrastructure, with, as my hon. Friend rightly says, unfair cost being laid at the door of Thames Water customers. He asks whether it is a viable business and about next steps. This is a stage in the process where I have given my early views on this proposal. It is now for Ofwat to decide what to do next, and we wait to see what happens.

16/06/2026
Victoria Atkins – 2026 Speech on Thames Water

The speech made by Victoria Atkins, the Shadow Environment Secretary, in the House of Commons on 16 June 2026.

First, I echo the Secretary of State’s comments in remembrance of her dear colleague Jo Cox. Her loss was felt across the House and across party political lines, and I send all of our very best wishes to her loved ones and friends.

I thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement and for a briefing call on this announcement. As you know, I have been trying for months to coax the Secretary of State to the Dispatch Box to explain major events within her portfolio, from the Government’s EU handover negotiations to their lack of support for farmers. Finally, she emerges into the light. We all assumed that it would be to announce progress towards resolving the many issues facing Thames Water and its customers; instead, it is to make a statement about a letter to the regulator. There is nothing new in this statement—no change in the situation of Thames Water, and still no certainty for billpayers.

Thames Water has repeatedly failed its customers and the environment with a record of pollution, leakage and chronic under-investment. The latest figures lay this bare. The company is responsible for around a third of the nation’s worst pollution incidents, even as billpayers face steep increases in their bills. These are not abstract failures; untreated sewage has been poured into the rivers and chalk streams that local communities cherish, while customers are asked to pay more for less. The priority now must be a financial arrangement that keeps the company afloat and protects billpayers and taxpayers. While the Secretary of State’s Government are in chaos, paralysed by the Prime Minister’s weakness and the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s leadership ambitions, Thames Water continues to fail. If no deal is reached, Thames Water could collapse—again, at enormous cost to taxpayers.

The Secretary of State has said that she does not want a scenario where customers

“pick up the bill for the company’s failures”,

but when the Conservatives tried to amend the Water (Special Measures) Act to prevent consumers from being on the hook in the event of a company going into special administration and tried to impose a lending ratio limit on water companies to prevent this situation from happening again, Labour voted it down. Why? I also remember that under the former Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed), an investor pulled out of a previous rescue deal, partly due to political risk—in other words, the former Secretary of State had talked himself out of a deal. How is the current Secretary of State avoiding the failures of the now Secretary of State for Housing?

There are those who are urging nationalisation, a word that is thrown around carelessly by Labour Back Benchers and by Reform—in fact, I think I heard it just now. None of them ever explains that nationalisation would be extremely expensive, potentially costing the taxpayer up to £20 billion. For those who are wondering what that means, it is roughly equivalent to the defence funding shortfall we have heard so much about in recent days. However, there are reasonable concerns about how Thames Water’s failures will be managed during the Government’s restructuring of the sector and the abolition of Ofwat, so can the Secretary of State please confirm that the existing penalty regime will not be downgraded or diluted, which has been briefed to the newspapers? What safeguards will be put in place to ensure Thames Water remains fully responsible for its environmental and operational failures? How will the Government ensure that billpayers are not left bearing the cost of past mismanagement, and have they offered or begun any process to recommend an alternative deal?

Public trust in the water industry is already at rock bottom.

Ministers have still not explained how investment in the sector will actually be paid for. Indeed, the Secretary of State’s predecessor had to admit that so-called private water industry investment is in reality paid for by higher bills, and the Secretary of State has repeated that today. Families already struggling with the cost of living should not become the safety net for a company that rewarded its executives while letting its infrastructure crumble. This is an important moment for the Government to show that they can balance financial stability with strong regulatory oversight and put accountability and the interests of billpayers and the environment at the heart of water reform. The Government must now deliver on the big promises they made during the election for the water sector.

Emma Reynolds

I am always happy to receive brownie points, Mr Speaker, so thank you for what you said.

The shadow Secretary of State rightly says that untreated sewage has poured into our waterways, and it did, in the long years that her party was in government. They cut the Environment Agency’s enforcement budget and moved to an approach where water companies marked their own homework—the so-called self-monitoring approach. She has some brass neck in lecturing us when we saw a series of failures under her Government.

We are here today, and we as a Government inherited record levels of pollution in our waterways, because of the failure by the Government of the right hon. Lady to see what was happening before their eyes. It was a failure of regulation, a failure of the regulators and a failure of the previous Government.

I am proud of what we have achieved in the two short years that we have been in power. I am proud of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025. When did the Conservatives ever cap polluting water bosses’ bonuses? Never. The right hon. Lady lectures me about amendments to our Act. Our Act did more in less than a year than her party did in 14 years to ensure a fairer deal for customers and a better deal for the environment.

The right hon. Lady asks about nationalisation. I gently say that a special administration regime is not the same as nationalisation. [Interruption.] I am just clarifying for the House; I do not wish to have an exchange with her across the ballot box—sorry, the Dispatch Box—if I can possibly help it. The ballot box might be at some other point. There is a difference between nationalisation and a special administration regime. With nationalisation, the Government would be taking ownership of the company. With a special administration regime, the Government would finance a special administrator appointed by the courts to run the company.

The right hon. Lady talks about public trust in our water sector being at record lows. All I can say is that we are clearing up her party’s mess. [Interruption.] It was under her Government that Thames Water was plunged into unmanageable levels of debt.

Mr Speaker

Order. Can I just say to the shadow Secretary of State that I want to hear the Secretary of State? We do not need a running commentary all the way through. I made sure that those on the Government Front Bench listened to her.

Emma Reynolds

I am not surprised that there are not many Opposition Back Benchers here, given the Conservatives’ terrible record on the water industry. In our clean water Bill, which we will introduce later in the Session, we will take forward a desperately needed, once-in-a-generation reform of the water sector to introduce a powerful single regulator that holds water companies to account.

16/06/2026
Emma Reynolds – 2026 Statement on Thames Water

The statement made by Emma Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the House of Commons on 16 June 2026.

Before I begin, let me say that this is a solemn day, as we remember our dear friend and colleague Jo Cox—I got to know her when we were living in Brussels in our 20s. I pay tribute to her formidable sister and their family for all their vital work to honour her memory.

I will make a statement regarding the position of Thames Water and the proposed recapitalisation package under consideration. This Government were elected with a clear mandate to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, having inherited record levels of pollution incidents from water companies. Thames Water has underperformed for 15 years. It has regularly missed performance targets, it has unacceptable levels of serious pollution incidents, and the company is heavily indebted. This situation, which delivers poor outcomes for consumers and the environment, cannot continue.

To fix this, over the course of the past two years, the company has been undertaking a recapitalisation process to seek vital long-term funding. The Government have been clear throughout that any investor will need to have a credible and robust turnaround plan, the implementation of which must be monitored by regulators and must restore the company’s financial resilience and operational performance. Ofwat, with the support of Government, have been in discussions with the London and Valley Water consortium—a group of Thames Water’s creditors—regarding the terms of a proposal. On 6 March, the consortium presented its proposal for Thames Water to both Ofwat and the Government. Ofwat has been continuing its discussions with the consortium since then, and I wanted to update the House on the next stage of the process.

Ofwat is currently evaluating the consortium’s proposal and, as the independent regulator, is responsible for deciding whether to accept it. If Ofwat decides to accept the proposal, this would be subject to a public consultation and a court-sanctioned restructuring process. A recapitalisation process of this size is complex and will take time. As the Environment Secretary, I have several duties, set out in section 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991. These include protecting consumers, securing the proper delivery of water and sewerage services, and ensuring that companies can finance those services and that statutory obligations are properly carried out. Today, I can confirm that I have sent a letter to Iain Coucher, Ofwat’s chair, outlining my early views on the proposal linked to my section 2 duties. These should not be taken as, nor do they constitute, a direction from Government to Ofwat.

I do not believe that the current proposal goes far enough to protect customers and the environment. I have three particular concerns about the proposal: the unfair cost to customers, delays to vital infrastructure investments, and delays to environmental improvements. The 16 million Thames Water customers are front and centre of my consideration, and I am primarily worried about the impact on them. There is an expectation in the proposal that customers will fund—and therefore bear an undue cost for—investment in the company.

In addition, I am not convinced about the proposal’s request to reduce performance standards, nor about the significant delay to vital infrastructure investments. This would mean delays to environmental improvements, particularly those related to waste-water treatments linked to statutory requirements, as well as to projects that are important for drinking water safety and supply. I am therefore concerned that the long-term resilience of the water and waste-water systems may not be adequately protected. The Government will always act in the national interest, and my priority as Environment Secretary is protecting customers and the environment. We will stand ready for all eventualities.

I conclude by emphasising this Government’s commitment to turning around the water sector. In under two years, we have taken swift, decisive action. We have introduced the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 to raise standards, enforce accountability, and make pollution cover-ups a criminal offence. We have banned more than £4 million in bonuses for polluting water bosses; we have unlocked £104 billion of private investment to rebuild vital infrastructure; and we have commissioned Sir Jon Cunliffe to lead the most comprehensive independent review of the water sector since privatisation. Together, those steps have paved the way for the landmark clean water Bill announced in the King’s Speech. The Bill fulfils the commitments we set out in the water White Paper earlier this year and will deliver the fundamental reforms that are so desperately needed. This once-in-a-generation Bill will create a single powerful water regulator, moving away from a system where water companies mark their own homework by putting in place stronger, active supervision. This will strengthen water companies’ financial resilience and the long-term stability of the sector, with modernised economic regulation and new powers to drive turnaround where companies perform poorly.

Additionally, the reforms will strengthen the consumer advocate, providing a more independent, authoritative voice that can challenge the system, drive improvements in outcomes and ensure that customers’ interests are put first. We will also improve water quality by cutting pollution at its source. Finally, we will avoid the situation we are discussing today happening again: our reforms will give the new regulator the powers to ensure water companies do not accumulate unmanageable levels of debt. More broadly, they will secure the long-term stability of the sector and ensure that companies are financially resilient. Put simply, our reforms will deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

I commend this statement to the House.

16/06/2026
Lindsay Hoyle – 2026 Comments on Jo Cox

The comments made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 16 June 2026.

Colleagues, today we mark the 10th anniversary of the murder of our former colleague and friend to so many in this place, Jo Cox. Jo was proud to be the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen. She was dedicated to serving her constituents and was a relentless campaigner for equality, human rights and social justice.

Jo’s death while carrying out her constituency duties shocked Members across the House. In my role as chair of the parliamentary security committee at the time of her death, and since then as Speaker, I have made it my personal mission to improve the security and safety of Members, their families and staff, because no Member should fear carrying out their democratic duties.

In remembering Jo today, I invite all the House to reflect on the words she shared during her maiden speech, when she said:

“we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”

Our thoughts are with Jo’s family and friends on this day.

16/06/2026
Kemi Badenoch – 2026 Comments on the Culling of Dartmoor Ponies

The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition, on 16 June 2026.

This is total madness from another unaccountable quango. The government must overrule Natural England and stop it immediately.

Keir Starmer is on his way to making his last acts in office the shameful underfunding of our military and the mass slaughter of Dartmoor ponies.

16/06/2026
Kemi Badenoch – 2026 Comments on Russian Attack on Keir Starmer

The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition, on 15 June 2026.

Keir Starmer and I disagree on many things, but good people across the political spectrum will welcome today’s verdicts, condemn these appalling attacks which seem to have been sponsored by Russia, and wish the PM and his family well.

Whatever our political differences, no one should face intimidation, threats or attacks because they hold public office.

Democracy is settled at the ballot box, not through fear or violence and definitely not through foreign interference from hostile countries.

16/06/2026