Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November (HL3214), why they have no plans for a price cap on alternative fuel.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The markets for alternative fuels – including heating oil, coal, LPG, and biomass – contain a large range of suppliers not subject to the same regulation as electricity and gas suppliers. This means there is no single regulated standard price to modify by the imposition of a price cap.
The Government has doubled support to £200 for alternatively fuelled households, in recognition of the pressures caused by these rising fuel costs. The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help those who rely on oil or liquefied petroleum gas to heat their homes; and what plans they have, if any, to extend the energy price cap to oil and liquefied petroleum gas.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Households reliant on oil or Liquefied Petroleum Gas to heat their homes will receive the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP).
The AFP will ensure that households which do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee, receive support for the cost of the fuel they use.
Households eligible for these payments in Great Britain will receive £100 as a credit on their electricity bill this winter. Households who are eligible but do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier will receive the £100 via the AFP Alternative Fund.
The Government has no plans for a price cap on alternative fuels.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 31 October (HL2654), what specific provisions the Energy Bill Relief Scheme contains to support farming businesses; and what estimate they have made of the impact of that scheme on farming businesses.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is available to all eligible non-domestic energy customers, including businesses, charities and the public sector and will provide a discount on the wholesale costs of gas and electricity. This includes farming businesses on eligible non-domestic energy supply contracts.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the capture of waste heat from British industry to alleviate rising energy costs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports a wide range of projects, including waste heat recovery, at industrial sites with high energy use across the UK.
The IETF has supported a number of these projects thus far, one such example is the recovery project undertaken by GSK Ltd in County Durham, which includes the installation of a heat pump to recover waste heat from site compressors and displace heat demand on natural gas boilers. The Fund is currently open for applications and will have a further two application rounds this year.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) grants, and (2) subsidies, they are planning to introduce, if any, to improve the insulation of homes.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy sets out our plans to transform heat and buildings over the next decade. This includes a continuation of local authority delivery through increased funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) (investing a further £800 million over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is planned to be open to all registered providers of social housing) and HUG (investing £950 million over 2022/23 to 2024/25). Both schemes aim to improve the energy performance of low-income households, support low carbon heat installations, help to reduce fuel poverty and build the green retrofitting sector to benefit all homeowners.
In addition, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is an obligation the Government has placed on the larger energy suppliers to make energy-efficiency upgrades to low-income homes throughout Britain. We have committed to extending ECO from 2022 to 2026, boosting its value to £1 billion a year. Meanwhile, the Government has removed VAT on energy-saving measures such as insulation to help householders with the cost of making their homes more energy efficient.
In addition to this, the Government has removed VAT on energy-saving measures such as insulation to help householders with the cost of making their homes more energy efficient.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia, what plans they have to strengthen energy security in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK does not face questions around security of supply but of high prices. Unlike other countries in Europe, Great Britain is not dependent on Russian gas; in 2021 it made up less than 4% of UK supply. Great Britain benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix, which ensures that households, businesses and industry get the energy they need. The Government continues to work closely with key international and industry partners to monitor gas supply and demand, and the Government remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen volatile oil and gas prices, which were already at historic highs. Further energy price rises cannot be ruled out, given Russia’s aggressive actions. The energy price cap insulates millions of customers from volatile global gas prices during the winter months and will continue to do so. Great Britain’s exposure to volatile gas prices reinforces the importance of this government’s plans for a strong renewable energy sector to strengthen future energy security and resilience.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they (1) audit, and (2) monitor, the commercial UK real estate holdings of companies directly associated with regimes with poor human rights records.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Monitoring of individuals, and any companies they may be associated with, for human rights abuses overseas is a matter for FCDO and HM Treasury, under the recently introduced Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Christians Against Poverty Shipshape or sinking ship?, published on 21 July, what plans they have to remove insolvency fees for individuals with insufficient surplus income.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no immediate plans to review the bankruptcy application or Debt Relief Order (DRO) fees. Where the fee is an issue, assistance is already available to allow a debtor to pay in instalments prior to the making of the bankruptcy order or DRO. In addition, some charities offer help with paying the fee.
The Government has announced that it will be conducting a review of the personal insolvency framework in due course to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 vaccination doses they have ordered in total; whether they intend to order more doses than the number required to vaccinate the population of the UK; and if so, what plans they have to ensure that any surplus doses are used effectively.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Government has secured early access to 457 million vaccines doses through agreements with eight separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with BioNTech/Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, Novavax, Janssen, Valneva and Moderna.
The Government continues to monitor the landscape of COVID-19 vaccine development, both here in the UK and internationally, and will keep the situation under review.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear that equitable access is an integral part of the UK’s approach to vaccine development and distribution. The UK is working with international partners to support vaccine development, manufacturing scale-up and future distribution to meet both domestic and international needs.