Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
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 is providing to members of the public who have concerns regarding the quality of insulation and energy efficiency measures fitted through government schemes such as ECO4.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All installations under Government energy efficiency schemes, including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, must be carried out by a TrustMark registered business. Installations of low carbon measures must be carried out in accordance with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) requirements.
TrustMark has set out a route to redress for any issues arising from measures installed under the scheme, which can be found at: www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowner/support/complaints-process
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has issued guidance to installation companies on the standards to which insulation and energy efficiency measures should be installed under government schemes.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy efficiency measures installed in households under current Government schemes must be done in accordance with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 and PAS 2035 standards.
Installers under Government schemes must also be TrustMark registered. As the only Government endorsed quality scheme, TrustMark ensures compliance with the overarching PAS 2035 process and setting clear requirements to protect consumers across the multiple sectors operating in the energy efficiency market.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of measures in the Autumn Budget 2024 affecting the physical activity sector on (a) health and wellbeing and (b) economic inactivity of people aged between 18 and 24.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for young people to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active.
Sport and physical activity plays a vital role in driving positive public health outcomes. There is also a well-evidenced positive relationship between physical activity, employment and earnings, with being physically active increasing a person’s likelihood of being employed.
In the Autumn Budget, the Government committed to support grassroots sport by investing £123 million into the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25, which will support more people to get active wherever they live.
Additionally, the Government's plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce child poverty in rural areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty which is why we have set up a Ministerial Taskforce that is urgently working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.
Our publication on 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we will develop the Strategy, harnessing all available levers to deliver a reduction in child poverty this Parliament.
The Strategy will look at policies across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
The Taskforce will hear directly from experts across the UK on each of the Strategy’s themes including children and families living in poverty and work with leading organisations, charities, and campaigners.
Alongside the work of the Taskforce, we are continuing to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales. This enables Local Authorities to provide discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water.
The government knows how important bus services are to local communities and knows that buses can be a lifeline in particular for those in rural areas. We have set out a plan to deliver better buses throughout England by giving local leaders the tools they need and empowering them to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities they serve, including through the introduction of the Buses Bill later in this parliamentary session. The government also recognises the importance of providing funding to support and drive improvements to bus services over the longer-term. In the Budget we confirmed over £1 billion of funding to support and improve bus services, and keep fares affordable in England outside London.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much her Department expects to raise from the introduction of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in (a) 2027, (b) 2028, (c) 2029 and (d) 2030.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027.
The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.
The UK CBAM is designed to reduce the risk of carbon leakage. The aim of the UK CBAM is not to raise revenue. However, in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook, they forecast the UK CBAM to raise £43m in 2026-27, £184m in 2027-28, £221m in 2028-29, and £223m in 2029-30.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support carbon capture and storage technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on Tuesday 12th October, to Question 901221. On 4th October, the government announced up to £21.7bn of available funding over 25 years to launch the UK’s Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage industry. We will provide further details on the next steps on CCUS, including Track-2 projects, following Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to justice for rural communities.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
Access to justice is integral to a fair society, including for our rural communities. That’s why we want to ensure effective and timely access to justice, including through our legal aid system and the broader network of legal support services, and by making best use of modern technology in providing advice.
In our courts and tribunals, modernised services and more effective use of technology are improving people’s access to the justice system across the country.