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Written Question
Energy Supply: Disability
Thursday 28th April 2022

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has set targets for energy suppliers to meet in regards to identifying and supporting disabled customers.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ofgem already has measures in place to require energy suppliers to support disabled customers. These include protection from disconnection during the winter, and the provision of additional support through a Priority Services Register. Ofgem monitors compliance with their rules protecting vulnerable consumers. Their most recent report is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021-10/Ofgem%20Consumer%20Protection%20Report%20Autumn%202021_Final.pdf.

Under the Warm Home Discount scheme, Ofgem provides a breakdown in their annual reports of the Industry Initiatives supporting fuel poor and vulnerable households through measures that include benefit entitlement checks and debt write-off. The 2020-2021 report is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-report-scheme-year-10.


Written Question
Energy Company Obligation: Disability
Thursday 28th April 2022

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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 been made of the financial impact on individuals affected by the decision to remove support for disabled people through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

ECO4 has been designed to focus support on households with the lowest incomes and alleviate fuel poverty. This will include households with disabled people on the lowest incomes. The scheme is designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes, through the installation of insulation or heating measures. Households benefitting from improvements could save an average of £300 per annum.


Written Question
Warm Home Discount Scheme: Reform
Wednesday 27th April 2022

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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 reverse planned reforms to the Warm Home Discount eligibility criteria so that all those in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are eligible for that support.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Introducing non-means-tested benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), into the eligibility criteria would mean that many households on lower incomes and in deeper fuel poverty would lose out.

Around 62% of PIP and DLA recipients also receive one of the qualifying means-tested benefits and so would be considered low-income under the Core Group 2 criteria. Those households with high energy costs would be eligible for a rebate. Recipients of AA, a pension-age benefit, who claim Pension Credit Guarantee Credit will in most cases qualify for a rebate through Core Group 1.


Written Question
Warm Home Discount Scheme
Wednesday 27th April 2022

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the criteria are for qualifying for the Warm Home Discount under the new Core Group 2.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The full eligibility criteria, including a list of the qualifying benefits, can be found in our recently published Government response on the scheme.


Written Question
Fuel Poverty
Tuesday 14th December 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households were in fuel poverty by (a) principal local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency in England in each year since 2015; and what equivalent estimate and forecast he has made for (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

BEIS publish Fuel poverty statistics by Local Authority (Table 2) and parliamentary constituency (Table 4) in England, the latest data covers 2019. These are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics#2019-statistics.

BEIS also publish Fuel poverty long term trends, covering 2010-2019, under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) and the Low Income High Costs (LIHC) indicators here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-trends-2021.

The Government’s projection for the number of households in England that would be in fuel poverty for the year 2021 is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-statistics-projections-2021.


Written Question
Warm Home Discount Scheme
Tuesday 14th December 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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 to improve the take-up of the Warm Homes Discount; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

In the 2021/22 scheme year, all low-income pensioners who are potentially eligible for a rebate under the Core Group will have received a letter from the Government by mid-December and most will receive the rebate automatically. In addition, the Warm Home Discount website is widely signposted and used by consumer groups, charities, and energy comparison websites to maximise uptake.

Energy suppliers are responsible for setting their eligibility criteria for Broader Group rebates and providing the rebates to eligible households. Suppliers make their customers aware of the scheme and are usually over-subscribed with applications.

This summer, the Government consulted on extending, expanding, and reforming the scheme such that from winter 2022/23 the vast majority of Warm Home Discount rebates would be provided automatically.


Written Question
Housing: Insulation
Friday 10th December 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what programmes are available to support homeowners to insulate their homes; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy sets out the programmes available to support homeowners to insulate their homes, including £3.9 billion of new funding to reduce emissions from buildings in the near term. Part of this will fund the next 3 years of investment through the Home Upgrade Grant scheme, which helps to deliver energy efficiency improvement measures, such as insulation, to low-income households in energy inefficient homes off the gas grid.

Alongside this, the £500 million Local Authority Delivery Scheme focuses on low-income households that are most in need of energy efficiency upgrades. Energy efficiency measures under this scheme may include, but are not limited to, solid wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and underfloor insulation.

In the summer of 2021, the Government announced the launch of the Sustainable Warmth competition. This is worth over £400m and comprises both the Local Authority Delivery scheme phase 3 and the Home Upgrade Grant phase 1.

In addition, under the Energy Company Obligation scheme, larger energy suppliers can deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to low income and vulnerable households across Great Britain. We recently consulted on a 4-year, £4 billion successor scheme to 2026.


Written Question
Toys and Games: Labelling
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to introduce a labelling system for toys that have flashing lights and make loud noises to better support children who are prone to sensory overload and sensitivity.

Answered by Paul Scully

There are no plans to specifically require toy packaging to provide information relating to sensory overload or sensitivity. However, it remains that the safety and labelling requirements of the UK Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 require manufacturers to provide general information to help consumers identify which toys are most suitable for their particular needs as well as requiring information be provided on the safe use of the toy.


Written Question
Toys and Games: Autism
Tuesday 21st September 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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 ensure that people buying toys for children who are prone to sensory overload and sensitivity can easily identify which toys are most suitable for their needs.

Answered by Paul Scully

The safety and labelling requirements of the UK Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 require manufacturers to provide general information on issues such age appropriateness to help consumers identify which toys are most suitable for their particular needs as well as requiring information be provided on the safe use of the toy.


Written Question
Fossil Fuels: Finance
Wednesday 9th June 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the International Energy Agency’s report entitled Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, published in May 2021, what steps his Department is taking to cease investment in new fossil fuel projects.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As of 31 March 2021, the UK Government no longer provides any new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas, other than in limited circumstances, and is aligning its support to enable clean energy exports. The UK Government does not subsidise fossil fuel projects domestically.

As we move towards net-zero, oil and gas will play a smaller role in meeting UK energy demand. However, it will continue to play an important role. The independent Climate Change Committee has recognised the ongoing demand for oil and natural gas, including it in all scenarios it proposed for how the UK meets its target for achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Even with continued licensing, the UK is expected to remain a net importer of oil and gas in the coming decades. This is because UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) production is declining rapidly as the basin matures, and fields being brought online at this stage in the UKCS’ maturity are generally small in comparison to elsewhere in the world. An orderly transition, underpinned by oil and gas, is therefore crucial to maintaining our energy security of supply.

Our review into the future of offshore oil and gas licensing concluded that a formal climate compatibility checkpoint, building on current practice, should be established. This will help ensure that any future licences are only awarded on the basis that they are aligned with the government’s broad climate change ambitions, including the UK’s target of reaching net zero by 2050. This checkpoint will be designed by the end of 2021 and will allow for an orderly transition, underpinned by ongoing production of oil and gas as long as we still require it domestically, while the sector increasingly bears down on its production emissions, and pivots to support the energy transition.