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Written Question
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating the money remaining in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in a non-competitive way via local authorities with the aim of maximising uptake of the scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social homes. Grant funding allocated to SHDF has totalled over £1bn.

In the Autumn Statement, the Government announced £6 billion of new Government funding that will be made available from 2025 to 2028 for energy efficiency. The design of future waves of the SHDF will consider all relevant options to ensure effective delivery.


Written Question
Housing: Repairs and Maintenance
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the Government has provided on home insulation and retrofit measures since the last general election.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government provides funding for home insulation and retrofit measures through the Home Upgrade Grant, Green Homes Grant – Local Authority Delivery, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, and previously the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme. The most recent allocations for these schemes is attached.


Written Question
Government Departments: Correspondence
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the Government has spent on sending letters in each of the last five years.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department can only answer for BEIS.

BEIS publishes all its spending on GOV.UK here including the postage spend in the last five years.


Written Question
Energy: Consumers
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for the potential effect on consumers of trends in the level of energy bills in winter 2023-24.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has launched the ‘It All Adds Up’ energy saving campaign, with simple, low or no-cost actions that households can take to cut energy use and save money now, and on an ongoing basis.

The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) operates until March 2024 to apply a subsidy where energy prices exceed the target price set by Government. As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government will develop a new approach to consumer protection in energy markets, which will apply from April 2024. The Government has committed to work with consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach, including options such as social tariffs, as part of wider retail market reforms.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Insulation
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating new funding to retrofitting social housing stock with insulation; and if he will make it his policy to support local authorities in accelerating such measures.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator project awarded around £62m of grant funding to Local Authorities in 2021. The Government launched Wave 1 of the SHDF in 2021 and awarded around £179m of grant funding to Local Authorities for delivery from 2022 into 2023. The Wave 2.1 competition, which closed in November 2022, will allocate up to £800m of grant funding to Social Housing Landlords, including Local Authorities, with successful projects likely to be notified in March 2023.

This Parliament, the Government has committed to investing £6.6bn in energy efficiency, with the Autumn Statement announcing an additional £6bn from 2025-2028.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Insulation
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled End the Wait.Insulate published by UK100 on 16 November 2022.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social homes. Grant funding allocated to SHDF has totalled over £1bn.

In the Autumn Statement the Government announced £6 billion of new Government funding that will be made available from 2025 to 2028 for energy efficiency. The design of future waves of the SHDF will consider all relevant evidence to ensure effective delivery


Written Question
Carbon Emissions
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking with Local Authorities to achieve Government’s Net Zero targets.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Net Zero Strategy sets out the UK's commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero.

This includes establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to bring together national and local Government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero; running the Local Net Zero Hubs Programme to support all local areas with their capability and capacity to meet net zero; and funding work to develop business models to increase private sector investment in local net zero.


Written Question
Renewable Energy
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Local Authorities on accelerating the rollout of onshore wind and solar energy.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises the role that local government plays in realising the UK's net zero carbon ambitions for onshore wind and solar.

Through the Local Net Zero Forum, BEIS regularly engages with representatives from local authority organisations on net zero policy and delivery issues.


Written Question
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussion with stakeholders on the potential merits of increasing Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation to a six day package service alongside its six day letter service.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department has regular discussions with stakeholders on a wide range of issues.

The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. The Government currently has no plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.


Written Question
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction to the Royal Mail Universal Service Obligation to a five day letter service on non-Universal Service Obligation letters.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service, set out in the Postal Services Act 2011, which requires letter deliveries to every UK address, six days a week at standard price.

There is a clear and transparent process for how changes to the universal postal service should be considered and any change would need to be made through secondary legislation and agreed by Parliament.