Jackdaw Gas Field
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(4 days, 9 hours ago)
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Baroness Curran (Lab)
You do not get challenging questions only from the Cross-Benchers. As an accounting professor, the noble Lord knows quite a lot about this. Of course, we would not want to see excessive profit, manipulation or improper activity within this field. We will be trying to ensure that investment is properly managed.
The noble Lord just put on the record the behaviour of certain companies and the consequences of that. I am not personally versed in that, but it is something I will look at. Obviously, there are limits to what we can do with private companies. When I was at the Dispatch Box last week, the Tories and the noble Lord were in unison and in one voice; I suspect that on this question they are not. I will come back to the noble Lord.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
Does the Minister not accept that heat pumps are very inefficient? To heat water and the house, you also need solar panels and battery storage units. Can the Minister take that into consideration on heat pumps?
Baroness Curran (Lab)
Of course, we would want to understand any practical difficulties and challenges. My understanding is that heat pumps have become very useful to people, who value them and find that they make a useful contribution. I would always wish to be guided by the evidence, but we are seeing that they are regarded as an important part of the infrastructure for a renewable future. That is the evidence that I have seen.
National Energy System Operator: Blackout Risk
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
Yes, that does make it very important that we continue decarbonising our energy systems to make sure that they are very resilient in a different climate that we will have in the future, and that the consequences of, for example, continuing to provide energy via high-carbon fossil fuels are countered by the systems being thoroughly low-carbon in the future. This has a bearing on the recent episodes as far as energy margin notices are concerned. We have had a period of extreme heat in the UK that is very likely the consequence of climate change, and this has produced some system resilience issues. However, the system was easily resilient enough to cope with that particular issue: there were no blackouts, there was no loss of power for customers or industry, and the stability of the system was maintained at around the 50 hertz mark at all times.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, does the episode not show that the integrity of the energy supply system is simply not fit for purpose? There is an overdependence on renewables that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I disagree with the noble Baroness. The recent episode showed that, even in relatively new circumstances of extreme heat—rather than the more normal issue of energy margin certificates being issued because of the effect of cold and winter on the system—the system stood up to it very well and managed to make sure that customers were not deprived of their power. As I said, the system was maintained to run at between 49.5 hertz and 50.5 hertz at all times. That is a sign that the changing nature of the system will be able to deal with these issues very well in the future.
Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) (No. 2) Regulations 2026
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)
My Lords, these draft regulations were laid before the House on 8 June and, in case noble Lords think we are suffering from a small dose of déjà vu, similar regulations, which we debated at the time, were laid months ago for reasons that I will come to in a moment. Further regulations were laid concerning Northern Ireland a little while after that.
As the background to this SI, the Government acted in the Autumn Budget to reduce electricity costs to the benefit of all households with a domestic electricity meter by scrapping the energy company obligation— ECO—scheme and moving 75% of the domestic costs of the renewables obligation to the Exchequer. We have been able to provide immediate savings for households in kind. These actions also mean that the energy price cap grew by less than it would otherwise have done on 1 July this year.
On 27 May, Ofgem announced that the price cap level for the period from 1 July to 30 September would be set at £1,862—an increase of £221 from April. The changes that we made at the Autumn Budget are still factored into bills and, without that action, the price cap would be significantly higher.
This concerns the transfer of 75% of the levies on the renewables obligation scheme to the Exchequer. The renewables obligation scheme exists to incentivise UK renewable electricity generation through a system of tradeable certificates. Of course, it is not a current scheme—it closed to new applications in 2017—but existing sites will continue to receive support until the scheme ends in 2037. The scheme has been instrumental in taking a nascent renewable energy sector to where it is today, with the scheme supporting around 30% of total UK electricity generation.
The core of the renewables obligation scheme is a process in which electricity suppliers purchase certificates from renewables generators. This process continues unchanged. However, previously, suppliers ultimately recovered the costs of complying with their renewables obligations from consumers via electricity bills. Ofgem considered these costs when setting the quarterly price cap for domestic consumers in Great Britain.
From 1 April, the Government have instead been providing grant funding to electricity suppliers to cover 75% of the cost of these obligations attributable to domestic energy supply in GB. We have given a legal direction to electricity suppliers requiring them to pass these savings on to domestic consumers. Translated into the typical dual-fuel bill used by Ofgem, and accounting for other changes, our intervention delivered a reduction of £117 in the price cap on 1 April. Although the price cap on 1 July increased by £221 as a direct consequence of events in the Middle East, it would have been considerably higher still without the ongoing effect of moving the renewables obligation to the Exchequer, which continues to suppress bills.
I come to the vehicle through which those changes could be placed in legislation. The legislative basis for the grant funding that enables the energy bill reductions was originally due to expire in April; that is because the Energy Prices Act 2022 contained provisions that have been used, for the purpose of this legislation on these reductions, to sunset the possibility of those reductions being undertaken. As I mentioned, we debated the Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) Regulations 2026 in the Chamber this year. They came into force in April and extended the power so that it is now set to expire on 25 October. The regulations before us extend this time limit once more to ensure that the removal of costs from energy bills can continue.
I should say at this point by way of a confession that, when I was the shadow Energy Minister in opposition and took part in our consideration of the then Energy Prices Bill in 2022, I did state that I was rather concerned that some other Government might come along and use the provisions in that Bill for something else entirely. I was a little mollified by the fact that a sunset clause was placed in the Bill, but I consider that the changes that have been put into legislation here have a rather similar purpose to that of the Bill in 2022—at least as far as the clauses at that time are concerned; they aimed to provide additional assistance for people who had very high energy bills as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the volatility that resulted from that.
What we are looking at today is a further extension of those sunset clauses to cope with the next phase of that transfer of responsibility from energy bills to the Exchequer. The arrangements in the settlements were for three years to 2029 so, as things stand, these regulations will have to be extended repeatedly during the time that those savings on customers’ energy bills are in place.
This extension to the regulations is only until 25 April 2027. It says in my brief: “I therefore expect to return to the House by February to seek a further extension”, but that should read, “Whoever happens to be there at the time will come to the House to seek a further extension”. However, I can assure noble Lords that the department is working hard on some primary legislation, at the moment, which will provide a more permanent solution to be taken forward when parliamentary time allows. Your Lordships would therefore not be in a position of having to return every six months to take this matter forward.
I emphasise to noble Lords that the position is slightly different in Northern Ireland, as I think we know because we have debated it separately. Energy costs are a transferred matter for the Executive, and the Northern Ireland renewables obligation forms a smaller cost on electricity bills. The department has been supporting colleagues in Northern Ireland as they develop a comparable offer to the policy in Great Britain. Following a request from the Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland, separate regulations were laid on 20 June, as I mentioned, to enable the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy to deliver a comparable offer. Those regulations have since been signed and have entered into force.
These regulations are a straightforward extension of an existing time-limited power, but they ensure that the Government can continue to deliver the bill reductions announced at the Budget while work progresses on a longer-term legislative solution. I beg to move.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I thank the Minister for presenting the regulations before us. I express the hope that he stays in his position, as indeed does the Whip. We do not like changes in the House of Lords.
I will make a couple of comments. Eons ago, I served as the shadow Environment Minister on an energy Bill in 2006 or 2007, I think it was, so plus ça change, plus—or rather, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I do not know how Hansard will cope with a French quotation so I will not say it.
What the Minister has put before us just confirms that this is smoke and mirrors. We are all playing for what is, in effect, a subsidy, and this has been the case since the mid-2000s, when his Government introduced this type of policy. Instead of me, as a householder, paying my household electricity bill, I am now paying it as a taxpayer, through my general taxation. I just hope the Minister and the department will step back from saying that this is a reimbursement or a return to me of £117, because that is not the case.
Where the department and the Minister could make a difference is by reducing the standing charge, as Martin Lewis, the money-saving expert, has said on many occasions. I know it has been outside the remit and the purport of the statutory instrument, but I just make a plea to the Minister, who has now disappeared behind the Dispatch Box—I cannot see him any more. I think he is still there.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I think that, in fact, our government lectern is higher than the opposition lectern.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
As we are all about the same height at this end, we do not need it. We should not worry about that.
Can the noble Lord write to me—I have asked this on more than one occasion—to tell me whether he, the department and the Government are inclined to look into this? From the point of view of household energy bills, that would make a real difference. If we could move away from renewables so that the application for the BESS in Knaresborough and Scotton is not approved next week, that would make the world a safer place, because my niece has been told that she will have to evacuate in the event of a fire. Knowing how highly combustible and flammable these things are, the world would be a safer place. However, with those few remarks, obviously I approve the SI before us this afternoon.
Earl Russell (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for the way in which he introduced these regulations. It is almost like double déjà vu because we have considered the Northern Ireland regulations and we considered these ones very recently. We had a good debate on them last time, so I will be incredibly brief on these. I sincerely hope that the Minister stays in post, because I enjoy working opposite him.
On the regulations, the Government need go on seeking these six-month extensions so that they can continue to deliver these savings, which are important at the moment. We have renewed hostility in the Middle East and increased pressures on the cost of energy, so we absolutely recognise the need for this to be done, and these regulations would extend those provisions from 25 October 2026 until 25 April 2027. I therefore recognise that, in the absence of other primary legislation, there is a need continuously to come back with the six-month extensions.
I welcome that the noble Lord said that his department was working on bringing forward a permanent legislative solution so that we do not need to continue doing this. Can we expect that in the energy independence Bill, or is the expectation that it would need to be a stand-alone piece of legislation?
I made all the broader points I need to make on this SI when we debated it previously, so I will not rehearse those again. The Minister knows where I stand on a need to reduce energy costs, and on some of the ideas that I believe in and which my party has put forward. I wanted to ask about the situation in Northern Ireland, on which the Minister kindly updated us. I welcome that his department has been working with the Northern Ireland Executive, and I hear what he says: that has been enabled and has entered into force. If there is anything else on the Northern Ireland situation that the Minister might choose to add, that would be welcome. Other than that, we support these regulations, we will not stand in their way, and I thank the noble Lord.
State of Climate and Nature
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement and for giving us the opportunity to raise issues in this regard. I associate myself with the comments made from the Front Bench. Will the Minister reply to the question about taking productive land out of production? The wheat harvest is expected to be devastated this year because of the lack of rain and drought conditions. North Yorkshire is being covered by BES, these big battery energy storage and solar farm projects, which are highly flammable, highly combustible and highly dangerous. How can he square that with nature and environmental benefits? They are diametrically opposed.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I did indeed not provide a complete answer to the thought put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, on farming. He concentrated mainly on energy and climate change, which is what I responded to particularly. As the noble Baroness will know, we have recently produced the farming road map, a comprehensive road map informed substantially by farmers in the first instance on how we can develop more sustainable farming. Contrary to what the noble Lord says, that does not involve, for example, removing a lot of livestock from farming practices. It involves more sustainable practices in general.
I am sure the noble Lord will agree that the agriculture and land use sector needs to make sure that its emissions go down substantially, as it is one of the two sectors that have flatlined on emissions in recent years. The question is how you do it, rather than simply saying that there are things you must do which are detrimental to the interests of farming. I have already mentioned what is happening with the ELMS arrangements. There are all sorts of other things associated with that, such as low-methane feedstuffs for cattle, which are getting a lot of traction and interest in farming circles. These can reduce emissions substantially without having to cull any livestock or causing people to change their eating patterns or farmers to do things other than farm in a more sustainable way. That is the key to what we are trying to do on farming. I hope the noble Lord and the noble Baroness will support it.
Climate Change: Government Action
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
First, I am delighted to join my noble friend in paying tribute to Sir David Attenborough, not only for being 100 years old but for the increasing work he has done in recent years not only in talking about the natural world but in bringing public consciousness to bear on the costs of not doing anything about climate change and on how our natural world will change irrevocably if we do not. The energy Bill in the King’s Speech is a crucial part of the next stage of countering climate change in this country, and, in conjunction with the carbon budget and growth delivery plan, it will enable us to meet our next carbon budgets coming up.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there is a role for adaptation in tackling climate change? Would the Government see fit to reward farmers for retaining excess floodwater in times of flood to prevent downstream communities flooding?
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
As the noble Baroness will know, a report on adaptation will be coming out shortly. I accept that this is an essential part of a two-legged approach to climate change: we must be aware of what we need to do to adapt to climate change as well as to mitigate it. Farmers retaining water is a very important part of that adaptation process. I hope that we can respond positively to what they are doing in this respect.
Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: Rural Communities
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(6 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan upon rural communities.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I am delighted to have secured this debate and I look forward to hearing all contributions, particularly the maiden speech. I declare my interest as honorary president of National Energy Action and the UK Warehousing Association. I also serve on the Environment and Climate Change Committee.
The impact of clean energy on rural areas is potentially devastating, yet I would like to start off positively and look at the alternatives that would prevent this happening. The first is North Sea oil. Why are we importing oil and gas from Norway when we could produce from our own oilfields, which are entirely adjacent to theirs? Drilling for oil in the North Sea is good for UK jobs, tax income and the balance of payments. With a developed renewables sector, Denmark—I am half Danish and fairly closely follow developments there—has the largest oil and gas production in the EU. All sources of energy are joined up, which brings community benefits to residents.
Nuclear power is another alternative, and I look particularly favourably on smaller nuclear power stations, which are relatively quick to build, safe and efficient. Energy from waste would tackle two issues at once: disposing of household and light commercial waste, as well as heating homes and hot water for households and businesses. Solar panels could be built on rooftops, car parks and brownfield sites; I am very proud that the UK Warehousing Association is leading the way in this regard.
The future also could contain floating solar. Clean energy entails major concrete and other installations: it involves wind turbines and pylons, solar farms and battery storage plants, including inverters, transformers, substations and control rooms, and connection to the grid. It is often built on prime agricultural land and causes tensions between farmers and developers. A judicial review is under way, involving around 500 Welsh farmers and landowners, many of whom face losing farmland, homes and livelihoods to a proposed 200-kilometre pylon scheme stretching across several counties and into the West Midlands. These facilities amount to creeping urbanisation.
Currently, applications for North Yorkshire alone include East Cowton, Light Valley Solar in South Milford, Hillam, East Appleton, Masham and Swinton, East Rounton, and Scotton and Lingerfield. Many of these are integrated BES schemes, with a horrendous array of solar panels, integrators, battery storage and all the things referred to above. This is an unacceptable cumulative impact of various forms of clean energy.
In one instance, that of Scotton and Lingerfield, the developers acknowledge the very real risk of a fire and a need for evacuation, and a real risk of a smoke plume reaching a nursery. These facilities are inherently unsafe as they are highly combustible and flammable, with fire risks from solar panels themselves and even more so from battery storage units. In many cases, these are positioned simply too close to residential homes, schools, nurseries and other businesses.
It is staggering that fire and rescue services are not statutory consultees. They are not formally consulted on site engineering and the positioning of facilities, or the resources in terms of water, equipment and manpower required in the event of a fire. This is despite the intrinsic unsafety of such flammable sites.
In addition, these sites require wind turbines and overhead pylons criss-crossing the countryside to bring the energy generated to London and the south-east. These are highly intrusive, environmentally unfriendly and wasteful, as energy is lost in such transmission. In any event, pylons transporting energy long distance via vulnerable overhead power lines are environmentally challenging, can be damaging to birds and wildlife, and are wasteful and hideous. This is an ecological scandal in the making.
In particular, when it comes to the end of life of clean energy infrastructure, how will it be decommissioned and disposed of in an environmentally safe way? Will a bond be taken out from the applicants in each case to cover the cost of restoring the site after 40 years, or in the event of a developer failing before that time? Many environmental groups, including the CPRE—the Campaign to Protect Rural England—deeply regret the impact on the countryside, residents and livestock.
Offshore wind farms threaten the marine life that is the very lifeblood of marine areas. Many argue that, in view of the potential damage, there is a strong case for a moratorium on new applications for offshore wind farms until there is a better understanding of these issues.
One of the worst aspects of these facilities is the impact on farming, food and production. The Government have admitted that it will potentially take 10% of farmland out of food production. What assessment have the Government made of the impact on food security and food production of their clean energy proposals at this stage? We are roughly 60% self-sufficient in food, but this is challenging. We are only 18% self-sufficient in fruit and only 55% self-sufficient in vegetables. The majority of these are imported.
Moreover, current levels of debt per household are high and increasing, amounting to a total of £5.5 billion in February this year. The arrears represent around 75% of the total of all unpaid energy bills. Energy spending by households and businesses is increasing. We are paying for infrastructure use in advance before it has even been constructed. This is the only utility to do so, piling costs in the form of energy levies and high standing charges over which households have no control.
Continuing the Danish theme, in the fairy tale by HC Andersen, as we call him in Denmark, the emperor has no clothes. Everyone feared the emperor and wanted to display loyalty, so they praised his garments, but, in truth, he was wandering around in his underwear. Only a young boy was brave enough to tell the truth: that the emperor was indeed wearing no clothes. I am being very brave today in saying to the Minister and the Government that this is wrong.
The Minister will respond by saying that clean energy is safe, sustainable and reliable for our energy. I disagree. Many of the clean energy sites are intrinsically unsafe, highly flammable and combustible. They are not reliable, as when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine we are left powerless. I urge the Government to look closely and positively at the alternatives. Renewables are, in practice, potentially wasteful, lose energy in transmission and bring no significant community benefits. They amount to the creeping urbanisation of the countryside. The proposals contained in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan are premature, ill-thought-out and potentially devastating for rural communities and their residents, livestock and nature. The proposals are unravelling rapidly. They need to be revisited.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The noble Lord says I am selectively quoting. I am sorry to disagree with him, but I am not selectively quoting; I am quoting. That is what the land use framework says on the best estimates for the land that is being taken. In addition to that, he and other noble Lords will be aware that, in the guidance and arrangements for the development of solar, there is a clear understanding that the best and most versatile land will be excluded from those solar developments and that they should go primarily on brownfield land or less-important agricultural land, so that precisely that best and most versatile land for farming and food use is preserved for that activity. That is what is happening with the solar developments coming forward at the moment.
The other thing I want to mention on rural communities is that, when we are putting forward proposals for grid coverage of the country, as other noble Lords have mentioned—the noble Lord, Lord Howell, for example—that is not just about clean power 2030. Among other things, it is about getting the grid fit for energy for the future in general. Even if clean power 2030 were not in place, it would be necessary to undertake that huge programme of grid renewal and updating, partly because of the extreme neglect of grid uprating that took place during the Conservative Government who immediately preceded this Government. We are not just undertaking a grid for the future but catching up from the past.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I am not accusing the Minister in any way of misleading the House, because this is from a different department, but the actual figure that was consulted on by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in January 2025 was that more than 10% of farmland in England was to be diverted towards helping to achieve net zero and protecting wildlife by 2050. That was in the consultation that was the prelude to the land use framework and I understand was in parallel to this net zero policy.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I am happy to write to the noble Baroness to clear up that exact point, but what I quoted from, as I am sure she will know, is the actual land use framework and not the precursors to it. At the final point when it was published by Defra, it came to the conclusion that I have mentioned. It is in table 1 on page 19 of that land use framework, so it can be looked at. I am very happy to write further to the noble Baroness on that particular point.
What is absolutely right, though, as indicated in the contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Gill, is that we are basically all in this together. It cannot be the case that we can exempt parts of the country from the energy revolution taking place in front of us. But what we can do is make sure that, where it has effects on those areas, they are mitigated as far as possible: for example, as we are planning at the moment, they will have community benefits coming their way from those changes. Community investment through the discount schemes is also coming forward. A new electricity bill discount scheme will provide £2,500 over the next decade to households living within 500 metres of new and significantly upgraded transmission infrastructure, with the first payments expected in 2027.
We are also looking seriously at community benefit from upcoming changes to grid systems and various things. The SSEN’s upcoming Tealing to Aberdeenshire transmission line, for example, could mean funding of more than £23 million for local communities. There is assistance for communities that are associated with those changes, but also an understanding that, while those changes have to be made very carefully—with full consultation and appreciation of the difficulties that may stand in the way of some of those schemes—where those schemes go ahead, they have done so on the basis of our Planning and Infrastructure Act. That means full scrutiny and consultation, full arrangements for remediation and a full consideration of what, among other things, the cumulative effect on the landscape may turn out to be.
With that, I hope I have addressed the points made by most noble Lords. If I have failed to do that because of time constraints, I am happy to write, particularly to the noble Lord, Lord Howell, to go a little further on the question of hydrogen for the future. I can assure him that it plays a very substantial role in the process, along with other non-variable things such as biomethane and biogas, for the future of the energy economy.
Overall, the Government are doing a responsible job in trying to match the requirements of the clean power action plan with quality of life and the future, particularly of rural communities. We will certainly continue to take that very carefully into consideration as the plan develops and, indeed, as clean power goes beyond 2030 and into the next decades.
Electricity: Domestic Pricing
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(6 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The effect of the windfall tax is, essentially, to start returning some of those excessive bill contributions back to bill payers so that their overall bills are less than they otherwise would be.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister not agree that Denmark—where renewables, on which Denmark excels, are highly developed—is the largest producer of oil and gas in the European Union? We will continue to need fossil fuels, in addition to renewables, going forward.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The reference that the noble Baroness makes to Denmark is an interesting one, inasmuch as the Danish system is wholly integrated between renewables, heat and power of different kinds—particularly district heating and various such things, which can be used in conjunction with other forms of energy to provide a balanced overall system. It is true that Denmark continues to produce oil and gas but also that Denmark is, along with the UK, looking at methods of making sure that relates to production for the future rather than exploration.
Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2026
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(7 months, 1 week ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)
My Lords, these regulations were laid before this House on 2 February 2026. The warm home discount scheme has been a key policy in the Government’s approach to tackling fuel poverty and reducing the energy costs of low-income and vulnerable households, ever since its inception in 2011. Last year the Government expanded the scheme, removing the high cost to heat threshold to ensure that around an additional 2.7 million of the poorest households across Great Britain received a £150 rebate off their energy bills this winter, with nearly 6 million households now eligible. The current scheme period ends on 31 March 2026, and new regulations are required to continue the scheme beyond this date.
In September we consulted on continuing the warm home discount scheme up to and including the winter of 2030-31. The consultation respondents, including consumer and advocacy groups, charities and industry, strongly supported proposals to continue the scheme, and to continue to provide rebates via automatic data matching. Today we are discussing these regulations, as well as some additional changes to the scheme, which allow eligible households across England and Wales in or at risk of fuel poverty to continue to receive the rebate for the rest of this decade.
These regulations will extend the scheme in England and Wales for five more years from 2026, until they expire in 2031. The regulations will continue to oblige energy suppliers with more than 1,000 domestic accounts to participate in the scheme. These regulations will ensure that, as is the case currently, energy suppliers with fewer than 1,000 domestic accounts can choose to participate voluntarily in the scheme.
Under the scheme, participating energy suppliers are obliged to provide support to eligible households through a rebate provided directly to their energy bill, valued at £150. Eligibility for the rebate will continue to be set out by the Secretary of State with an eligibility statement, which is published for each scheme year. Following the removal of the high cost to heat threshold and the expansion of the scheme in 2025-26, the Government have committed to maintaining the current eligibility for the rebate in England and Wales, based on receipt of means-tested benefits, for a further five years.
Eligibility for the scheme remains unchanged but these regulations introduce a more streamlined approach to administration, without impacting eligibility. The existing core group 1 and core group 2 will be merged into one core group in England and Wales, with a view to enabling clearer communication and messaging to potentially eligible households. This change was broadly supported by consultation respondents.
We put out a range of communications ahead of and during each scheme year to eligible households, and will continue to do so for the next scheme period. The automatic data-matching process for the core group in England and Wales will continue, using data held and processed by the Department for Work and Pensions, with the majority of eligible households—typically around 96%—expected to be automatically data-matched, meaning that they will receive the rebate without taking any further action.
These regulations set out a range of permitted activities, overseen by Ofgem, through which energy suppliers can deliver towards their non-core obligation of supporting eligible households in fuel poverty or in a group that are at risk of fuel poverty. Permitted activities within industry initiatives include benefit entitlement checks, energy-efficiency measures, energy advice, debt relief and financial assistance payments of £150. Scheme energy suppliers can also choose to dedicate non-core spend towards the park home scheme, which provides eligible households with £150 of support towards their energy bill.
The regulations also introduce changes to the administration of the scheme and enhance consumer protections for eligible households. They include a new provision to enable the Secretary of State to direct suppliers to communicate directly with their own successfully data-matched customers to provide further information about the scheme, including information related to automated decision-making. In addition, the regulations will replace fixed spending targets with annual estimates, based on the number of eligible households expected to benefit from a rebate each winter, to better predict scheme costs.
Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government. We recognise that too many people cannot afford to heat their homes at a reasonable cost. That is why in January we published our new fuel poverty strategy, alongside our Warm Homes Plan, to ensure that many more fuel-poor households are protected by 2030. Through these regulations, the warm home discount scheme will continue to provide vital support for eligible households each winter at the coldest time of year when support is most needed. I beg to move.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations, which I broadly support. I declare my interest as the honorary president of National Energy Action, from which I am delighted to have had a written briefing.
I have a question for clarification at the outset. A piece on the Government’s website titled “Help with the cost of living in 2026” talks of
“an average of £150 off the costs of energy bills”.
It goes on to say:
“This support is on top of the Warm Home Discount Scheme—a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill—a total package of £300”.
Do people have to apply separately for the £150 off the cost of living and for the £150 from the warm home discount scheme? The figure cited in the regulations, by the Minister and on the GOV.UK webpage is £150. From memory, I thought the figure for the warm home discount scheme was £350. If that is the case, £350 to help those most in need because they are suffering the most from fuel poverty will obviously go a lot further than £150. I do not know whether that is an erroneous memory on my part, but that is what I remember.
The NEA is concerned—this is my wording, not the NEA’s—about one potential consequence of the regulations. The idea is to lift 1 million homes out of fuel poverty, setting new standards for landlords to meet to help do so. However, as we saw with a recent Bill, whose name I forget, under which landlords were meant to improve housing, in fact they sold it because they simply did not have the means to upgrade it. Does the Minister share my concern that instead of rented properties being upgraded at the cost of the landlord or, potentially, with the help of the Government, the landlords may not have the means to do so and therefore the rented properties will go off the market? That is a very real concern.
Is any attention being focused on rural areas? My experience, having been in the European Parliament and represented two separate constituencies in the House of Commons, is that homes in rural areas tend to be less well insulated and more isolated. It is more expensive to heat a house than a flat. Is any particular attention being given to rural areas in that regard? That could make a real difference to reducing fuel poverty.
National Energy Action has a good record on giving advice and doing what it calls hand-holding to guide people through the system; I commend it for doing this. I like to think that I am moderately intelligent but, if I have difficulty in understanding the system, I can understand how tenants and others who wish to apply for the scheme may need help. Have the Government considered offering such help to those who are hopeful of benefiting from the warm home discount—and, indeed, from the cost of living reduction?
Are the Government planning to address the vexed issue of standing charges on energy bills? I know that this is a great theme of the energy champion, Martin Lewis. I never manage to watch his programme because we always seem to be voting here when it is on, but in my experience this is the only utility where the customer is paying up front for the infrastructure to be put in place. Normally, with telecoms and broadband, the customer pays for the infrastructure after it is in place.
The point that I would like the Government to consider is this: all of us can, as consumers, control our unit costs by using less power—that is, less electricity and less gas—and reducing our consumption in that way, but we have absolutely no control over the standing charge. When I go on to Uswitch, I see that it is creeping up: it was 40p per day last year but, this year, it is 50p or 60p per day. We have seen that energy bills are projected to come down from April for three months, but, given the backdrop of the Middle East, there is now an expectation that, if not from July then certainly from the next increase in September or October, people will face the very real issue of finding that they cannot control their household bills.
Finally, National Energy Action refers to the debt mountain. A growing number of households are averaging debt balances exceeding £1,200 a year. This is posing real problems for them. They are paying for last year’s electricity use before they have even saved up for next year’s electricity use. In the words of the NEA, many are trapped in a cycle of paying for last winter’s energy alongside current usage, often with no formal repayment arrangement in place. Are the Government looking at the possibility of trying to address this issue?
In conclusion, as I say when I have already used up all my “finally”s, can the Minister use his good offices to ensure that the warm homes plan is embedded not just in his department’s work but in the 10-year health plan, to make sure that this issue is reflected in health—older people can become unwell if they are not able to heat their houses properly—as well as in the new child poverty strategy, to make sure that there is completely joined-up government at this level? Otherwise, I like the regulations.
Lord Jones (Lab)
My Lords, it is always instructive to follow the noble Baroness. I thank the Minister for his shrewd analytical introduction and his insight. Tangentially, for me, it conjured up memories of chilblains, hot-water bottles and ice on the inside of the windowpanes—the considerable discomforts of a post-war Britain barely out of the VE Day and VJ Day celebrations. It was an era of greyness, rationing and lengthy bus queues—not to mention the frequent and unannounced power station electricity cuts in our ever-cold homes.
These regulations aim to help some 6 million households, with the best part of £1 billion of state money going to fellow citizens. The Minister might be pleased and these regulations are surely to be welcomed in these most uncertain times. Can he say how many Welsh households are in receipt of such moneys? It is the case that Wales is a place of low wages and unusual weather patterns.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I thank noble Lords for their valuable and apposite contributions to this debate. They were quite extensive. I will do my best to respond to them, but if I miss anything I will be happy to write to noble Lords.
One particularly important element of this scheme, alluded to by a number of noble Lords, was data and data matching. One of the good things about this programme is that with data matching now as efficient as it is—as the noble Earl, Lord Russell, mentioned—probably 90% of an expanded group of potential recipients can be automatically data-matched. That is, they will not have to do anything more to receive their rebates because they have fallen into a matched category automatically. But 2% is not an insignificant amount. The Government are determined to continue to notify people who are deemed unmatched to contact the warm home discount helpline to determine their eligibility.
On data matching in general, with the actions that the Government are taking in some different areas, it is likely that data matching will become even more efficient. Indeed, the Government are actively pursuing a programme called Kickstarter to analyse how data matching across departments could become more efficient and effective in future.
Noble Lords, in particular the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, asked about what money counts as what for this relief. The £150 targeted as coming off energy bills—not that energy bills will not rise but that they will be £150 less than they might otherwise be—has been substantially discharged as far as the changes to legacy charges from levies to the Treasury, causing a £117 reduction in average energy bills next year. That is in addition to the £150 that will automatically go to 6 million households now through this measure. Of course, the funding that has recently gone into the cost of heating oil, particularly in rural areas and off-grid properties, is in addition to all that as well. These are not cross-cutting reductions or rebates: they are all piling up on top of each other.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I hear what the Minister says, but £117 is obviously not £150. The Cabinet Office’s website—not that of the Minister’s own department—is clearly inaccurate because it leads you to believe that you might get £150 plus another £150, making a total of £300. I am grateful to the Minister for taking the time to explain that that is no longer the case, but I believe that web page should be updated.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I am delighted to tell the noble Baroness that I cannot speak for the Cabinet Office’s website, but I take her point that these things need to be clarified as much as possible.
The noble Baroness also asked about standing charges, both generally and in relation to this particular measure. She will be pleased to know that we have announced our intention to move warm home discount costs from the standing charge to the unit rate; Ofgem has confirmed that this charge will be included in the price cap from 1 April 2026. That will offer a cleaner and more accurate basis of cost recovery while addressing widely raised concerns around standing charges. It does not overcome the overall question of whether standing charges should exist at all. Obviously, that is a wider question for review of standing charges and how they impact on the costs of energy in general.
The noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, also mentioned debt. That is an important issue, because each consumer pays around £52 a year towards the cost of managing and writing off debt. If the debt were to become unsustainable, it would place an even higher cost on consumers, so we are working urgently with Ofgem to drive debt out of the energy system alongside delivering reforms that put people first. Ofgem has published an updated debt strategy, setting out its near-term actions and priorities to support suppliers to reduce the level of debt in the sector and subsequently lower the cost of managing this for consumers, lowering that £52 a year that is being paid. That includes proposals for a debt relief scheme to tackle debt built up by some consumers during the energy crisis.
Noble Lords mentioned the disproportionate impact of fuel poverty in rural areas and asked whether any additional measures were being looked at on that. This issue is very pertinent in Wales, as a larger number of people are off-grid and in fuel poverty than in England. I am pleased to inform noble Lords that about 300,000 Welsh households will benefit from this expanded scheme, a substantial increase from previously. As far as rural fuel poverty is concerned, some of the additional measures that can be undertaken by energy firms as part of the overall scheme are relevant to making sure that people who are in fuel poverty and in rural areas, and who have higher costs, are adequately addressed.
Noble Lords also asked about the adequacy of the £150. Certainly, the Government will keep that under close review, but we have taken the view that it is £150 for 2026-27, partly because of the substantial expansion of the scheme, how that indirectly falls on customers as a levy and how that can be sustained. The suggestions put forward this afternoon have certainly been heard and are well received, and we will keep those issues under close review.
I hope I have covered most of noble Lords’ points but, as I said, if I get back to my office and realise that I have completely missed a key point, I will try to make up for it by communicating with the particular noble Lord or noble Baroness at the earliest opportunity.
Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government and the views expressed underline how critical it is that we continue to tackle it.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I apologise to the noble Lord. I am afraid I did not address that question directly, but the privacy notice for the warm home discount is published on the GOV.UK website, where it can be easily accessed. That privacy notice is in line with those from other areas of government with regard to the privacy of people whose data is being shared.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
When this used to be debated next door, there was a real issue of the DWP not being able to share data, so that those potentially most at risk of fuel poverty could not be identified. Has that problem been resolved now? If the noble Lord is not familiar with it, could he take this issue away and let us know? That would be very helpful.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
Yes, I am happy to take that away. I am aware that, although great strides have been taken in recent years in allowing data sharing to work efficiently across different departments and make sure that people do not keep filling in the same form over and over again, there are still deficiencies in this area. Indeed, the noble Baroness will recall that, when she and I were Members of Parliament many years ago, it seemed virtually impossible that this problem would ever be resolved. We have come a long way in making sure that it works properly now, with the right safeguards in place.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
I will have to write to the noble Lord on that because I do not have paragraph 5.3 in front of me. I will certainly send him a letter to that effect.
In essence, this SI is a method of making sure that a much larger group of people receives the discount than has hitherto been the case, which is vital at this time of very high energy prices. It is about making a real impact on fuel poverty and continuing to expand that impact with the measures in the new scheme. It will be done on an affordable and manageable basis and in conjunction with the Warm Homes Plan, which, as the noble Baroness will know, is about driving down bills through energy efficiency and various other measures in homes. Together with those measures, this will make a real impact on fuel poverty over the next period. I urge noble Lords to support the new scheme, which we will have at least until 2030, subject to review. I hope we will see a substantial uptick in people’s warmth and energy welfare in that period, thanks to what is before us this afternoon.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I am happy that the Minister will write to us, but I do not think he replied to one question. Does he share my concern that many landlords may feel that they cannot afford to do what we are asking them to do with the warm home discount and in the Warm Homes Plan, so they will sell their properties, which will then come off the market?
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
What we are asking landlords to do under the Warm Homes Plan is an extension of some of the work done to uprate properties from band E, whereby landlords could put some money, with some exemptions, into improving their properties for rent. The limit that landlords can put in before being exempted is, I think, about £10,000, but it means a higher level of warmth and efficiency in the home. There is no evidence that large numbers of landlords went out of business or sold their homes under the last scheme in operation, and we are confident that that will not be the case on this occasion.
Onshore Wind Farms
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(7 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The Government are already undertaking changes to planning arrangements to make sure that schemes can proceed faster and more immediately. In the case of repowering, that is obviously the difference between having to treat a scheme as a brand new development and one that can proceed very quickly, with the necessary consents in place.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
Will the Government consider very carefully the cumulative impact of the repowering of overhead powerlines in conjunction with onshore wind farms? Does the Minister not see that it is creeping urbanisation of the countryside, which should be avoided at all costs? At the very least, we should use the electricity generated in that way locally, so that it is not transmitted the length of the country through overhead power lines.
Fire and Rescue Services: Clean Energy Projects
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(8 months ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
To ask His Majesty’s Government what consultation they have carried out with the fire and rescue services in England regarding clean energy projects such as battery storage plants; and what assessment they have made of the combustibility and flammability of such projects.
The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)
The Government work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council on battery fire safety. In October 2025, Minister Shanks held a round table on battery safety with industry, regulators and academics, including NFCC representatives. In the last five years, there have been four grid-scale battery fires in Great Britain. Analysis from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero suggests that these fires appear less likely than fires in non-domestic buildings.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer, but it is unacceptable, given the fire risk posed by something as highly combustible, flammable and at risk of thermal runaway as these battery energy storage facilities, that fire and rescue services should not be statutory consultees to the planning application. To look at one constituency alone, the former Vale of York constituency that I represented, there are BESS plants to be built in Scotton and Lingerfield, Bedale and South Kilvington. That will put enormous stress on the fire and rescue services of north Yorkshire, which last year had to deal with one of the most aggravating and long-term wildfires that we have seen to date. Will the Minister use his good offices to ensure that, forthwith, in any current planning application, fire and rescue services will be statutory consultees, so that they can advise on the fire risk of each individual site with a view to mitigating the fire risk?
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The Government already have moved to make sure that the fire services and developers are closely involved in applications as far as large batteries are concerned. The planning practice guidance has been updated to ensure that developers consult fire services in the pursuit of their applications. The fire service itself considers that to become a statutory consultee would prove enormously bureaucratic and additional to its particular work, and is in line with that particular planning practice guidance update.