Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of measuring heat transfer coefficients on (1) improving retrofit advice, (2) improving retrofit outcomes, (3) protecting consumers, and (4) de-risking finance offers.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan recognised the potential role of Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Efficiency Ratings (SMETERs) in delivering warmer homes more affordably, including: helping tailor fabric and clean heat retrofit measures to homes; identifying hidden defects for remediation; and driving installation quality. We continue to explore new applications as part of ongoing policy activity.
These benefits form part of the rationale behind our recent consultation on introducing an option for recording SMETER Heat Transfer Coefficients as supplementary information alongside EPC ratings, in the ‘Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificates’ consultation. We are reviewing responses and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relative merits of heat transfer coefficients measured through smart meter enabled thermal efficiency ratings compared to those produced using the current Energy Performance Certificate methodology.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Efficiency Ratings (SMETERs) can provide valuable additional insight on the thermal performance of homes in practice with potential to play an important role in delivering warmer homes more affordably. Work is underway to establish a quality assurance system to support use of SMETERs from end-2026, and we are exploring further applications under the Warm Homes Plan.
In the Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificates consultation, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-energy-model-energy-performance-certificates, we sought views on an option for recording SMETER Heat Transfer Coefficients as supplementary information alongside EPC ratings. We are reviewing responses and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce smart meter enabled thermal efficiency ratings as a voluntary measure within existing warm home schemes and other policies.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Efficiency Ratings (SMETERs) can provide valuable additional insight on the thermal performance of homes in practice with potential to play an important role in delivering warmer homes more affordably. Work is underway to establish a quality assurance system to support use of SMETERs from end-2026, and we are exploring further applications under the Warm Homes Plan.
In the Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificates consultation, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-energy-model-energy-performance-certificates, we sought views on an option for recording SMETER Heat Transfer Coefficients as supplementary information alongside EPC ratings. We are reviewing responses and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits for (1) retrofit spending, (2) quality assurance, and (3) energy models, of including u-values in the Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure, the Home Energy Model, and the Standard Assessment Procedure.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
U‑values can be measured on-site or taken from defaults. Using measured U‑values reduces reliance on assumptions and can provide a more accurate view of real building performance. For new buildings, the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) and the Home Energy Model (HEM) require U‑values to be provided.
For existing buildings, Reduced Data SAP does not require measured values because in‑situ data is harder to obtain, though defaults can be overridden where verified evidence is available to assessors. Government is consulting on HEM for existing buildings, including exploring the optional use of additional verified, tested U‑value evidence to improve assessment accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reflect the true, in-situ, monitored energy performance of buildings in their future Energy Performance Certificate valuations.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is consulting on proposals for HEM for existing buildings in the HEM:EPC consultation which is open until 18 March. This includes exploring the optional use of additional verified in-situ measured evidence which can be input where available to assessors, which can improve assessment accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received specific proposals from (1) the Sustainable Energy Association, and (2) the Green Building Council, about ways to promote and fund domestic energy efficiency; and if so, what consideration they have given to those proposals.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the development of the Warm Homes Plan, the Department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders through a variety of different fora to ensure a wide range of views were considered.
On 8 December 2025 Minister McCluskey met with the Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy Association Dave Sowden to listen to their proposals for decarbonising homes. The Department has also corresponded with a number of other industry groups, academics, think-tanks and other representatives, including the UK Green Building Council. These proposals have been considered as part of the policy development process.
The recently published Warm Homes Plan is the biggest investment in home upgrades ever, with £15 billion of investment to cut energy bills, bring households out of fuel poverty, increase our energy security and make our homes warmer and more efficient.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residential properties have had energy efficiency measures installed under the Government policies then in place for each year from 2015 to 2024; and how many are projected to have such measures installed under current policies for each year from 2025 to 2030.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government publishes monthly delivery data on Gov.UK. The information sought regarding delivery of the ECO4 scheme can be found in the attached pdf and at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/household-energy-efficiency-national-statistics.
To the end of September 2025 there were around 101,500 meaures installed in 49,400 households under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. A summary of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund statistic can be found in the below table:
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund:
Wave and Period (to end September 2025) | Wave 1 (2021-23) | Wave 2.1 (2023-26) | Wave 2.2 (2024-2026) |
Properties Upgraded | Up to 20,000 properties upgraded | 62,800 measures in 30,000 households | 7,100 measures in 3,300 households |
More information is available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-statistics-november-2025/summary-of-the-social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-statistics-november-2025.
Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery (LAD) and Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) was released in November 2025 and can be found in the second attached file. Delivery under the current Warm Homes: Local Grant and Social Housing Fund is currently ongoing and in progress.
Over this parliament the government plans to upgrade up to 5 million homes and cut energy bills for good.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 7 January (HL3653), whether they considered the impact of (1) the removal of the ban on onshore wind generation, (2) the increase in offshore wind generation, (3) the increase in solar power generation, and (4) Great British Energy, in their assessments of the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2030.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We will deliver an updated plan that sets out the policy package out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy by October 2025. This will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver Carbon Budgets 4-6 and our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) on a pathway to net zero, including for onshore wind, offshore wind and solar power generation, and describing Great British Energy’s potential role in supporting these sectors.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of (1) number of trees felled, and (2) metres of hedgerow removed, on all sites related to the building of Sizewell C and the associated infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Sizewell C was granted development consent following the Planning Inspectorate’s examination of Sizewell C’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application and all works are fully in line with DCO permissions.
Sizewell C report that the project has carried out advanced planting of 4,000 more trees than it has removed, and when the power station is complete, 42 hectares of woodland will have been created, amounting to between 50,000 and 100,000 trees and shrubs, plus additional hedgerows. Sizewell C has also created three nature reserves around the site – and three further nature reserves are being created locally to further mitigate for any land take.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace trees and hedgerows removed during the construction of Sizewell C and the associated infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Sizewell C was granted development consent following the Planning Inspectorate’s examination of Sizewell C’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application and all works are fully in line with DCO permissions.
Sizewell C report that the project has carried out advanced planting of 4,000 more trees than it has removed, and when the power station is complete, 42 hectares of woodland will have been created, amounting to between 50,000 and 100,000 trees and shrubs, plus additional hedgerows. Sizewell C has also created three nature reserves around the site – and three further nature reserves are being created locally to further mitigate for any land take.