Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications for the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme were successful in Edmonton constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department estimates that the average Government contribution per successful household application to the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme in Edmonton constituency was £6,110 for the main scheme and £7,050 for the low-income scheme.
Information on the number of applications by application stage for Green Homes Grant voucher (GHGV) scheme by parliamentary constituency can be found in table 4.4 accompanying the latest release (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-homes-grant-voucher-release-october-2022).
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what was the average amount given to homeowners who had successful applications to the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme in Edmonton constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department estimates that the average Government contribution per successful household application to the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme in Edmonton constituency was £6,110 for the main scheme and £7,050 for the low-income scheme.
Information on the number of applications by application stage for Green Homes Grant voucher (GHGV) scheme by parliamentary constituency can be found in table 4.4 accompanying the latest release (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-homes-grant-voucher-release-october-2022).
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 make an estimate of the number of homes that have been retrofitted through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in Edmonton constituency since the introduction of that fund.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period. The SHDF Demonstrator and Wave 1 awarded a combined total of around £240m of grant funding to Local Authorities, with data held on local authority-led projects rather than at a constituency level. The SHDF Wave 2.1 competition, which closed on 18th November 2022, will allocate up to £800m of grant funding, with successful projects likely to be notified in March 2023.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many homes were retrofitted as a result of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator in Edmonton constituency as of 31 October 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period. The SHDF Demonstrator and Wave 1 awarded a combined total of around £240m of grant funding to Local Authorities, with data held on local authority-led projects rather than at a constituency level. The SHDF Wave 2.1 competition, which closed on 18th November 2022, will allocate up to £800m of grant funding, with successful projects likely to be notified in March 2023.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase funding for renewable energy sources in Edmonton constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Grant funding for renewable innovation or community-based renewable schemes is open for both local authorities and private investors to bid on. The Contract for Difference scheme, the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon generation, is awarded through a competitive process, ensuring that the most cost-effective projects are supported regardless of their location.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of providing further support for (a) postmasters and (b) sub-postmasters with energy costs after 31 March 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular conversations with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of rising energy costs on (a) postmasters and (b) sub-postmasters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to ensure that all eligible businesses and other non-domestic customers. The price reduction will run initially for 6 months covering energy use from 1 October 2022 until 31 March 2023. Non-domestic customers such as postmasters and sub-postmasters do not need to take action or apply to the scheme – support will automatically be applied to eligible bills.
An HM Treasury-led review of the EBRS will determine support for non-domestic energy consumers, excluding public sector organisations, beyond 31 March 2023. The Government has published terms of reference for the review, with the findings to be published by 31 December 2022.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of phasing out animal experiments in science.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The carefully regulated use of animals in scientific research remains necessary to protect humans and the wider environment. The Government's current approach is to ensure that the UK has a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies and enforcing legal standards and to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved primarily through funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs). Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has committed £100 million in research to develop 3Rs technologies.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a long-term energy efficiency scheme, open to all, to accelerate the decarbonisation of owner-occupied homes.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Heat and Buildings Strategy sets out how the Government will decarbonise homes, commercial, industrial, and public sector buildings, as part a path to achieving the Government’s net zero commitment by 2050.
Alongside the strategy, the Government announced £3.9 billion of new funding for decarbonising heat and buildings. This will fund the next three years of investment through schemes including the Home Upgrade Grant scheme and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. This takes the financial commitment to decarbonising buildings in this Parliament to £6.6billion.
The Government is prioritising the most vulnerable in society for support and is committed to achieving its statutory fuel poverty target: that as many fuel poverty households as reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of a Band C by 2030’.
In addition, the Government is working with lenders to catalyse the market for green finance. This is a priority for Government to help support homeowners not eligible for grants with the upfront costs of improvement.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 give businesses and workers the maximum possible amount of notice ahead of any introduction of possible further economic covid-19 support measures.
Answered by Paul Scully
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has recognised the need to provide businesses, workers and the public with as much notice as possible of any changes to COVID-19 measures.
We published our Autumn and Winter plan for managing COVID-19 last September, including details of Plan B measures should they be required. Plan B measures are now in place to slow the spread of the virus and ease pressure on the NHS, whilst minimising the impact on lives and livelihoods. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 5 January that Plan B will be in place for another 3 weeks, with a further review before the regulations expire on 26 January. We will provide businesses and the public with as much notice as possible of any changes to COVID-19 measures.