Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to reduce the standing charge on domestic household bills, and (2) to charge this to the recent profits announced by electricity distribution companies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The setting of the standing charge is a commercial matter for individual suppliers. Under the Price Cap, a supplier’s default and standard variable tariffs unit rate and standing charge together must not exceed the level of the cap set by Ofgem.
The profits made by distribution network companies are regulated by Ofgem through the price control to ensure sufficient incentives for networks to deliver for consumers, whilst protecting consumers from high costs. The next price control begins in April, where returns for these companies will be set lower than previous price controls.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the severe cold weather on vulnerable households, and (2) the ability of those residents on pre-payment meters to pay their energy bills.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Suppliers are required to offer vulnerable households with prepayment meters short-term support through emergency and friendly-hours credit and additional support credit if needed. The Government has put in place support worth over £37bn to assist consumers, including those with prepayment meters, with recent rises in the cost of living. The household support fund, assisting those most in need, has also been extended to March of this year. Support for eligible households is also available through the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and the Cold Weather Payment.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the severe cold weather on (1) vulnerable households, and (2) the ability of those residents on pre-payment meters to access Government help with household bills; and what steps they will take to facilitate access to support for the most vulnerable households.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is delivering the Energy Bills Support Scheme, a £400 non-repayable grant to support all families with their energy bills. Additionally, the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter.
The Government is currently reviewing the EPG. This consultation will ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk of having to pay more.
Customers with smart prepayment meters have the credit applied to their meter automatically, and those with traditional prepayment meters should have received discount vouchers sent via SMS text, email, post or a Special Action Message. Electricity suppliers have reported that, as of 1 December, they had issued 4,044,554 vouchers to customers with traditional prepayment meters.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the continuation of the independent Groceries Code Adjudicator; and whether they plan to extend the role to allow the adjudicator to open an investigation on their own initiative.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is currently undertaking the third statutory review of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and is considering the results of the public consultation that ended on 11 October. The consultation sought views on a range of issues including abolishing the GCA, transferring the GCA functions to another public body and whether the GCA has sufficient powers. The Government will carefully consider the views and evidence received and our conclusions will be published and a report laid before Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the price cap to fuels such as (1) Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), (2) Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), (3) heating oil, and (4) solid fuels such as coal.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has no plans to introduce a price cap on alternative fuels.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to cap the price of (1) oil, (2) liquefied petroleum gas, and (3) other heating fuels, not currently covered by the energy price cap.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has carefully considered the introduction of a price cap to help domestic fuel customers with high fuel prices, however analysis indicates that a cap would not be in the long-term interests of consumers.
The existing gas and electricity price cap was designed to protect consumers on default tariffs from the loyalty penalty, which the Competitions and Markets Authority warned was causing customers to be overcharged. The structure of the heating oil and LPG markets is different and imposing a price cap below wholesale costs would drive companies out of the market, reducing competition and possibly result in supply shortages.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of retrofitting homes to enable them to use energy created from waste.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Biomethane is produced from organic waste such as food waste, manures and slurries, and sewage. The Government supports biomethane production and injection from anaerobic digestors into the gas grid through the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, which closed to new applicants in March 2021; and through the Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) which launched on 30 November 2021. No specific retrofitting of homes is required.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they expect to reconcile food security and self-sufficiency with plans to install solar panels on agricultural land.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar is a cheap, versatile, and effective technology that will help limit household electricity bills and ensure Britain is less affected by fluctuations in volatile global gas prices.
The Government recognises the need to preserve productive arable farmland. Planning guidance prioritises the effective use of land and encourages the deployment of large- scale solar farms on previously developed and non-agricultural land. Where greenfield sites are considered, projects should be designed to avoid, mitigate and, where necessary, compensate for impacts. The government supports solar that is co-located with other functions (for example, agriculture, onshore wind generation, or storage) to maximise the efficiency of land use.
The UK has a high degree of food security built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production, as well as imports through stable trade routes.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the management of P&O Ferries regarding the requirement under retained EU law to hold consultations when implementing redundancy dismissals.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has written to the Insolvency Service asking them to urgently undertake a thorough review into the actions of P&O Ferries. This will include any scope to take action against the company’s directors. While I do not wish to prejudge the outcome, and it is important due process is followed, we will not hesitate to take further action if appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the resilience of overhead line transmission of electricity to storm outages; and what steps they intend to take to achieve greater resilience.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy works closely with the National Grid Electricity System Operator, energy infrastructure operators, and the regulator Ofgem to assess the appropriate level of current and future resilience to key assets and infrastructure. Overhead lines are considered as part of a range of options in infrastructure planning.