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Written Question
Energy Bill Discount Scheme: Hospices
Monday 6th February 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of replacing the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme on the UK hospice sector.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including hospices.

An HMT-led review into the operation of the current Energy Bill Relief Schemes was conducted with the objective of significantly reducing the overall burden on the taxpayer/public finances, and ensuring support is targeted at those most in need and unable to adjust to recent energy price rises. The review considered a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including input from businesses and stakeholders. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting non-domestic customers and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion.


Written Question
Energy: Prices
Thursday 24th November 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 help ensure any fall in wholesale energy costs are passed onto domestic consumers promptly.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofgem calculate the price cap to reflect the efficient costs of supplying energy. Ofgem now update the cap quarterly, so consumers will benefit more quickly from falling wholesale prices. The Government then applies the Energy Price Guarantee to reduce the cost of electricity and gas so that a typical household will pay an average bill of £2,500 a year until April 2023 and then £3,000 a year until April 2024. Where the efficient cost of supplying energy falls below the level of the EPG, the price cap ensures that Standard Variable Tariffs will reflect the lower cost of wholesale energy.


Written Question
Students: Energy Bills Rebate
Thursday 27th October 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Energy Bills Support Scheme on students who pay their energy bills through a third party.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

If landlords have a domestic electricity meter point, they will receive £400 through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The Government introduced the Energy Prices Bill in Parliament on 12th October. The Bill includes provisions to require landlords to pass benefits received from the Energy Price Guarantee, Energy Bills Support Scheme, or Energy Bill Relief Scheme to tenants who pay all-inclusive bills.

If landlords have a commercial meter, they will not receive the £400 payment. Commercial halls are supported through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.


Written Question
Energy: Standing Charges
Thursday 20th October 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of equalising standing charges in the UK to assist with tackling regional disparities in the cost of energy bills.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The standing charge element of an energy bill reflects the on-going costs that fall on energy suppliers to provide and maintain a live supply regardless of a consumer’s usage. One component of these costs relates to distribution. As it costs more to distribute electricity to some regions than others, there are regional variations in standing charges to reflect higher costs to serve.

Under the Energy Price Guarantee, average standing charges for customers on default tariffs will remain capped in line with the levels set (in Great Britain) by Ofgem for the default tariff cap from 1 October. Standing charges for households in Northern Ireland will also be unaffected.


Written Question
Energy Price Guarantee
Thursday 20th October 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 will extend the energy price cap to include (a) LPG, (b) heating oil and (c) solid fuel.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has no plans to introduce a price cap on alternative fuels.


Written Question
Energy: Prices
Monday 17th October 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 extend financial support to assist with the rising cost of energy to households reliant on off grid heating.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide a one-off payment to UK households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil. This will come in addition to the £400 provided by the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the electricity component of the Energy Price Guarantee.

The Government is also providing £800 of one-off support to eight million of the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.


Written Question
Heating: Costs
Monday 17th October 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative affordability of heating in winter 2022 for (a) on grid and (b) off grid households.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The price of heating oil is estimated to have risen by around 147% in the year to October 2022. A payment of £100 will effectively limit the increase in heating costs to 130%, in line with the benefit offered by the Energy Price Guarantee for customers on mains gas.


Written Question
Energy Bills Rebate: Travellers
Thursday 22nd September 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 18990 on Energy Bills Rebate, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that Gypsies, Travellers and other nomadic households will receive the £400 energy bills rebate; and if he will hold discussions with voluntary sector organisations on identifying groups that could be excluded from the scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

On 29 July the Government set out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) and confirmed that further funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the small percentage of domestic energy consumers not reached by EBSS. This will include those who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier. The government will be announcing details later in the autumn on eligibility and on how these households will receive the £400 payment.

This support will be provided alongside the ‘Energy Price Guarantee’ which will mean a typical UK household will pay, on average, no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years.


Written Question
Fuels: County Durham
Thursday 9th June 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 trends in the price of petrol and diesel in County Durham.

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

The Government publishes weekly national average pump prices for both petrol and diesel online at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/weekly-road-fuel-prices. The Government does not collect data at a local level.

The difference in retail prices largely reflects a difference in traded wholesale prices for the two fuels. The wholesale cost of diesel is often higher than for petrol. This is because UK and European refineries were historically set up at a time when petrol was the dominant fuel in demand. Consequently, the UK is a net importer of diesel but a net exporter of petrol.

The Government analysis shows that petrol and diesel prices are mainly driven by the price of crude oil (priced in US$) and exchange rates. These are also influenced by a range of factors, which can create small price differences in the short term. This includes balance of demand and supply for individual fuels, levels of oil stocks, changes to the costs of biofuels, and distribution and retail costs.


Written Question
Fuels: County Durham
Thursday 9th June 2022

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 made a recent assessment of the level of disparity in prices for petrol and diesel across County Durham.

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

The Government publishes weekly national average pump prices for both petrol and diesel online at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/weekly-road-fuel-prices. The Government does not collect data at a local level.

The difference in retail prices largely reflects a difference in traded wholesale prices for the two fuels. The wholesale cost of diesel is often higher than for petrol. This is because UK and European refineries were historically set up at a time when petrol was the dominant fuel in demand. Consequently, the UK is a net importer of diesel but a net exporter of petrol.

The Government analysis shows that petrol and diesel prices are mainly driven by the price of crude oil (priced in US$) and exchange rates. These are also influenced by a range of factors, which can create small price differences in the short term. This includes balance of demand and supply for individual fuels, levels of oil stocks, changes to the costs of biofuels, and distribution and retail costs.