Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of (a) manufacturing vehicles in and (b) importing vehicles from China on global carbon emissions.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK follows the agreed international approach for estimating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, which is for countries to report emissions produced within their territories.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publishes consumption-based emissions statistics, including emissions from imported goods and services, which can be found here: Carbon footprint for the UK and England to 2022 - GOV.UK. The latest data show that emissions associated with goods and services imported from China were 85 MtCO2e in 2022, however this is not broken down by product type.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with the renewables industry on its reliance on imports of batteries from China.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether it remains his policy to reduce energy bills by £300 a year.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
It remains our ambition to cut energy bills by up to £300 by 2030.
The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we are delivering the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households this winter. On 25 February, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The consultation has now closed and the Department is evaluating the responses.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's marketing campaign on heat pumps; and what the total cost was of (a) that campaign and (b) the associated photo shoot at Muncaster Castle.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero intends to publish information on campaign spend within the DESNZ annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, which is expected to be published later this year on GOV.UK.
We will conduct a full evaluation of the Department’s activities to promote heat pumps and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in due course. Control of advertising, marketing and communications (AMC) expenditure ensures that, where taxpayer money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective, coordinated and reflects functional standards and professional best practices.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of importing coking coal on the environment.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Basildon and Billericay on 22 October 2024 to Question UIN 9066.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support his Department plans to provide to rural communities that are off the grid to connect to mains Gas Distribution Networks.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Any new gas mains connections to rural communities are a commercial decision between the relevant gas distribution network and the connecting property or properties. There are currently no plans to introduce new government support schemes for new gas connections, but the Government is committed to ensuring energy is affordable for all households and is working closely with Ofgem to ensure that consumers are put first. The only way to guarantee our energy security and protect vulnerable households permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the total value of fossil fuels in the UK which have not yet been extracted.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The volumes, commercial recoverability and ultimate value of unextracted fossil fuels in the UK are all influenced by several factors and as such, a single figure of total value has not been calculated by the Department.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29571, if he will publish the results of the package of research.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Yes, the results of the package of research will be published in due course. The results will complement the research published in January 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defining-and-identifying-complex-to-decarbonise-homes.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25799 on Property: Bedfordshire, what his Department's timetable is for confirming the allocations of funding to local authorities.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government expects to write shortly, to all local authorities that submitted an Expression of Interest to receive Warm Homes: Local Grant funding to confirm their specific funding allocations.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25798 on Listed Buildings: Energy, if he will request data on listed buildings from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to enable an assessment to be made.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are working on our ambitious Warm Homes Plan, to transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. Whilst we are not currently seeking additional data specifically on listed buildings, we have commissioned a package of research to collect data on the costs of different approaches to decarbonising the most complex housing archetypes.
Historic England also provide advice on retrofit and energy efficiency in historic buildings, including guidance on installing heat pumps and heating systems that is relevant to listed properties off the gas grid.