Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's news story entitled British Muslim Trust appointed as new partner to monitor and tackle anti-Muslim hatred, published on 21 July 2025, when her Department was informed that Akeela Ahmed would be appointed CEO of the British Muslim Trust.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund was established this year to respond to the evolving nature of religious intolerance and targeted hate incidents faced by Muslim communities, which are at the highest level on record.
The British Muslim Trust (BMT) was appointed as the recipient of the Fund following a rigorous and transparent application process, in which it was the highest scoring applicant.
The application submitted by BMT on 18 May 2025 included information on their intentions for the staffing of key individuals, including the CEO. These plans were dependent on being identified as the preferred bidder for the Fund.
In establishing the BMT, The Aziz Foundation and Randeree Charitable Trust have worked closely with Akeela Ahmed MBE, who they intend to appoint as CEO, drawing on her decades of experience in working with grassroots organisations and policy-level anti-hate work.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there is (a) lesbian, (b) gay and (c) bisexual muslim representation on the Working Group to define Islamophobia.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The independent working group includes members from a cross-section of society and have been selected for their technical expertise and experience and ability to work to deliver the objectives set out in the Terms of Reference. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, the working group are engaging widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many heat pump installations have been directly funded by his Department outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme since July 2024.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Outside of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, between July 2024 and March 2025 inclusive, there have been 14,218 heat pumps installed under government schemes, including 11,035 under the Energy Company Obligation, 2,097 under the Home Upgrade Grant, 1,086 under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The statistics are available to access on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-pump-deployment-statistics).
The ECO is not a government-funded grant scheme, but instead a requirement on larger energy supplier to deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to low-income households.
Heat pumps are eligible for support under the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. The schemes started delivery in April 2025 and therefore installation figures are not yet available.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of aligning with the EU Emissions Trading System on the price of carbon in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The price of carbon allowances in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme is set by the market.
Linking the UK and EU ETSs is expected to create a larger, more stable market, which will lower the costs of decarbonisation for UK businesses. Many industry stakeholders, including Make UK, UK steel, and Energy UK, have voiced support for linking the two schemes, citing that linkage would align carbon prices and support business investment and certainty, by creating a larger and more liquid carbon market.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Gas Shippers Obligation on energy bills.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department consulted on the design of the Gas Shipper Obligation (GSO) earlier this year and published an analytical annex focusing on its impact on gas users, based on Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 estimated costs.
The affordability of energy bills remains a key priority for the government and the design of the GSO will consider energy bill affordability, value for money, and fairness.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the target for 10GW of hydrogen production capacity on energy bills by 2030.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government believes that the only way to guarantee our energy security and protect billpayers permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. Low carbon hydrogen is a key option for decarbonising hard to electrify industrial processes, heavy transport, and deliver clean power. Government support is a temporary bridge to unlock private investment and reduce costs, with all supported projects having to deliver value for money. As production scales and costs fall, future projects will need less support. Our Hydrogen Strategy, which we intend to publish this Autumn, will set out more on expected hydrogen supply and demand.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
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 (a) the cost to the public purse and (b) the potential impact on energy bills of Hydrogen Allocation Round 2.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In April 2025, the Government announced a shortlist of 27 projects across the UK to progress to the next stage of the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) process. Value for money and the affordability of energy bills will be central to decisions regarding capacity allocation and contract award. We expect final decisions on successful projects to be made in early 2026.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of total UK electricity consumption is used by businesses eligible for the British Industry Supercharger.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British Industry Supercharger was launched in 2024 and provides support to over 450 companies in energy intensive industries with some of the highest electricity costs.
The government estimates that support on electricity prices for EIIs in the form of the Supercharger could be worth (on average) around £24-£31 Per MegaWatt Hour (MWh) for eligible businesses.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the total cost of procuring frequency control services was in each month since January 2022.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The data requested is a matter of public record and is published by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) here under the headings “MBSS” and “MBSS Archive”.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to publish his Department's hydrogen to power business model.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In December 2024, the Government committed to implementing a Hydrogen to Power Business Model (H2PBM) to de-risk Hydrogen to Power investment by mitigating deployment barriers.
Later this year, we will publish a H2PBM market engagement exercise outlining further design details for the H2PBM, including our minded to positions on eligibility and assessment criteria and proposed next steps for allocating support through the business model.