Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Court of Appeal judgement in C Spencer Ltd vs MW High Tech Projects Ltd, what plans they have to consult on bringing forward legislation to include all construction operations in connection with process industry operations within the ambit of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Government has no plans to consult on bringing forward legislation to include all construction operations in connection with process industry operations within the remit of Part 2 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - 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 number of certified Retrofit Coordinators required under PAS2035:2019 that (1) will be required to support the delivery of the Retrofit Standards Framework at its commencement in June 2021, (2) are currently certified, and (3) are awaiting certification; and what assessment they have made of whether the number of certified Coordinators is sufficient to enable the planned Whole House Retrofit policy in England to be delivered to its original timescale.
Answered by Lord Callanan
We estimate that 250 – 1,000 retrofit coordinators will be required to meet the PAS2035:2019 requirements for the Energy Company Obligation, which is currently the only policy in which the Retrofit Standards Framework will have to be implemented from 1 July 2021. The number of retrofit coordinators required will depend on the number of projects and the number of measures per project.
Currently, around 80 people have graduated from the training with around an additional 230 going through the process.
The training can be provided fully on-line and we are in regular contact with the training provider to monitor uptake as well as considering options to increase it should we deem it necessary.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction of National Non Domestic Rates receipts in 2020–21 consequent upon COVID19; and what discussions they have had with the Local Government Association and councils about the impact of that virus on the operation of the Business Rates Retention Scheme and local authority budgets in succeeding years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is in on-going discussions with local authorities and their representative bodies, including the Local Government Association, to understand the impact that Covid-19 is having on councils’ funding, including non-domestic rating income. As a result of those discussions, we have announced the suspension of the planned reforms to the local government finance system, including the Review of Relative Needs and Resources (the ‘Fair Funding Review’) and the increase to 75% business rates retention. These were due to be introduced in 2020-21 and would have complicated councils’ financial planning at a time when the impact of Covid-19 on present and future business rates income is still uncertain. We have also introduced measures worth over £5 billion to ease the immediate cashflow pressures caused by reductions in local authority revenues. We will continue to work with councils and their representative bodies to understand the on-going impact of the pandemic on councils’ finances and capacity.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the number of certified retrofit coordinators required under PAS2035:2019 that (1) will be required to support the delivery of the Retrofit Standards Framework at its commencement in June 2021; (2) are currently certified; and (3) are awaiting certification; and whether they are satisfied that there will be enough coordinators to enable the planned Whole House Retrofit policy in England to be delivered to the original timescale.
Answered by Lord Callanan
We estimate that 250 – 1,000 retrofit coordinators will be required to meet the PAS2035:2019 requirements for the Energy Company Obligation. The number of retrofit coordinators required will depend on the number of projects and the number of measures per project.
Currently, around 80 people have graduated from the training with around an additional 230 going through the process.
The training can be provided fully on-line and we are monitoring uptake as well as considering options to increase it should we deem it necessary.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent representations they have received about relaxing Permitted Development Rights to allow additional storeys to be built on existing residential buildings; and what is the timetable for any formal public consultation on such a change.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We announced in the policy paper ‘Planning for the Future’ published on 12 March that we will introduce new permitted development rights for building upwards on existing buildings by summer 2020, including to extend residential blocks by up to two storeys and to deliver new and bigger homes. Further information is (attached) available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-for-the-future
The proposals were consulted on as part of the consultation exercise on Planning Reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes. A summary of the responses received and our response is (attached) available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-reform-supporting-the-high-street-and-increasing-the-delivery-of-new-homes
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent representation they have received on making further relaxations to permitted development rights to allow additional storeys to be built on existing residential buildings, and what is the timetable for any formal public consultation on such a change.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We announced in the policy paper ‘Planning for the Future’ published on 12 March that we will introduce new permitted development rights for building upwards on existing buildings by summer 2020, including to extend residential blocks by up to two storeys and to deliver new and bigger homes. Further information is (attached) available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-for-the-future
The proposals were consulted on as part of the consultation exercise on Planning Reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes. A summary of the responses received and our response is (attached) available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-reform-supporting-the-high-street-and-increasing-the-delivery-of-new-homes
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the reduction of National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR) receipts in 2020/21 as a result of COVID-19, and what discussions have they had with the Local Government Association and councils about its impact on the operation of the Business Rates Retention Scheme and local authority budgets in succeeding years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is working with local councils to understand the impact that Covid-19 is having on their finances and capacity. We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities so they can address any pressures they are facing. This is in addition to measures to ease cashflow pressures, including deferring £2.6 billion of payments to government.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of homes in England that fall within each rating band of Energy Performance Certificates, and (2) the amount by which annual CO2 emissions would be reduced if every home within each rating band were to be improved to the next rating band level.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
(1) The most recent analysis of the number of homes within each Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band that this Department has is the 2016 English Housing Survey which estimated that over 7 million dwellings in England had an energy efficiency rating of A to C, over 15.5 million dwellings were rated C to D and over 1.1 million dwellings were rated F to G.
(2) This Department does not hold any information on the amount by which annual CO2 emissions would be reduced if every home within each rating band were to be improved to the next rating band level. However, the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy estimated that upgrading energy efficiency from an EPC Band E to an EPC Band D reduces energy costs by £380 per year on average.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to ensure the correct transposition of Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU, in the light of the reasoned opinion sent to the UK by the European Commission in July.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government will consult in due course on amending the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 to ensure the full transposition of Article 9 of the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive. The UK has a longstanding difference of interpretation with the European Commission in respect of Article 7 of the Directive, which we hope to resolve with our response to the reasoned opinion.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to permit Demand Side Response measures to be taken into account when assessing bids under the Capacity Market scheme, if and when the Scheme is re-started.
Answered by Lord Henley
Capacity Market auctions are technology neutral and all eligible technologies are able to compete on an equal basis. Demand side response (DSR) providers have been able to participate in all Capacity Market auctions, alongside other technologies, since the Capacity Market was established. We also held two “Transitional Arrangements” auctions for DSR in 2016 and 2017. The most recent T-4 auction, held in 2018, awarded agreements to 1.2 GW of DSR capacity. Capacity market agreements totalling over 4.7GW have been awarded to DSR through the CM so far, worth approximately £85million.