Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Lucas Excerpts

Thursday 11th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

2. What changes he proposes to make to the Warm Front scheme to ensure that it meets the needs of vulnerable fuel-poor households.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

As announced in the spending review, DECC will fund a smaller, more targeted Warm Front scheme over the next two years as we transition to the full roll-out of the green deal, with its energy company obligation. We will shortly be consulting on the proposed changes to Warm Front to ensure that the eligibility criteria reflect the coalition’s determination to focus on the most vulnerable households.

[Caroline Lucas]

Warm Front funding is to be reduced from £345 million to £110 million by next year—that is a 68% cut. The Government’s plans to try to bridge the gap are likely to be funded through a levy on consumer bills, but that does not take into account the fact that this perversely hits the fuel poor hardest. What account has the Secretary of State taken of the Government’s own figures, which estimate that although options such as an extension of CERT—the carbon emissions reduction target—might take between 21,000 and 31,000 households out of fuel poverty, the impact via increased fuel bills is that it results in 70,000 to 150,000 households being put into fuel poverty?

[Gregory Barker]

The coalition is very mindful of the impact of all levies on domestic fuel bills. That is why, in the comprehensive spending review, we decided, for example, not to go forward with plans to fund RHI—the renewable heat incentive—on the basis of a levy, but to fund it out of general taxation. However, I can assure the hon. Lady that we look overall at the benefits for the fuel poor that will accrue from access to the green deal, feed-in tariffs and social price support, as well as continuing support for Warm Front for the next two years. Taken together, this holistic approach will ensure that we continue to make progress against fuel poverty.