Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2026 and the Defence Investment Plan, what capital reallocation she has agreed for her Department for each year of the spending review period, and whether projects have been cancelled as a result.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ is reprioritising its budget to contribute towards the Defence Investment Plan. The government is prioritising delivery of mature carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen projects at the Teesside, Merseyside and North Wales clusters, maintaining grant funding for the Viking cluster while exploring progressing projects in development through private investment and government loan or equity investments, subject to approval. This will save £200 million capital grant from CCUS and £500 million from hydrogen. The government will also save £1 billion capital grant from the Warm Homes Plan (WHP). The government remains committed to heat pump deployment and will maintain the Boiler Upgrade Scheme at current funding levels of £400 million in 2027-28 and rising broadly in line with inflation thereafter. The government has also launched the Warm Homes Loan Scheme to support heat pump and clean technology uptake. The majority of WHP funding for low-income households and social housing, delivered by mayors and councils, is protected. After a £200-million saving, Great British Energy (GBE) and GBE-N retain £8.3 billion across the spending review period.
The government is actively looking at how loan or equity investments can support the continued development of future CCUS and hydrogen projects this Parliament, including for the Acorn Cluster, while ensuring a return on any investment for taxpayers. Subject to value for money and affordability, up to £300 million may be available for strategically important hydrogen projects. Projects in the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round will also shortly be progressed to the Invite to Offer stage, with funding to be considered as part of the next spending review.
Changes to the Department's budgets will be reflected in relevant Supplementary and Main Estimates in the usual way.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of households that will no longer receive (a) insulation and (b) heat pump installations as a result of the reduction in funding for the Warm Homes Plan.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our Warm Homes Plan will continue to upgrade homes and drive down bills. We remain committed to upgrading up to 5 million homes by 2030 using a range of measures to do so, including Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, our new Warm Home Loans Scheme and the Future Homes Standard.
We remain committed to electrification, and to the target of 450,000 heat pump installations per year by 2030. We will maintain the Boiler Upgrade Scheme funding at current funding levels in 2027-28, rising broadly in line with expected inflation,
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment on the potential impact of a reduction in funding for the Warm Homes Plan on the rate of fuel poverty.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government remains committed to tackling fuel poverty and to our Fuel Poverty Strategy, which sets out a plan to lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.
Following the Budget, we have made difficult choices on the Warm Homes Plan while protecting funding for low-income households and social housing.
Both the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant have retained their capital funding levels committed in the Autumn 2024 Autumn Statement, with grant spend running until April 2028, noting the WH:SHF scheme received additional grant funding for 2026/2027. We will also allocate an extra £335m from within the WHP budget in 2027-28 to Warm Homes Schemes delivered by mayors, councils and social landlords across the country.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what requirements have been placed on local and combined authorities receiving funding through the Warm Homes: Local Grant to demonstrate how delivery of the scheme contributes to the Government's objectives to reduce child poverty and improve health outcomes.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The primary objective of the Warm Homes: Local Grant is to tackle fuel poverty in England- cutting energy bills for low-income households and areas of high economic deprivation through funding the installation of energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating. Through these upgrades the scheme will also help to ensure homes are healthy living environments, thermally comfortable, efficient and well-adapted to climate change- as well as drive carbon abatement that will support delivery of the UK’s Net Zero target and carbon budgets.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department collects to assess the contribution of the Warm Homes Local Grant to the objectives of the Fuel Poverty Strategy for England.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The primary objective of the Warm Homes: Local Grant is to tackle fuel poverty in England- cutting energy bills for low-income households and areas of high economic deprivation through funding the installation of energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating. Through these upgrades the scheme will also help to ensure homes are healthy living environments, thermally comfortable, efficient and well-adapted to climate change- as well as drive carbon abatement that will support delivery of the UK’s Net Zero target and carbon budgets.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether requirements have been placed on local and combined authorities receiving funding through the Warm Homes Local Grant to demonstrate how delivery of the scheme contributes to the objectives of the Fuel Poverty Strategy for England.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The primary objective of the Warm Homes: Local Grant is to tackle fuel poverty in England- cutting energy bills for low-income households and areas of high economic deprivation through funding the installation of energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating.
Through these upgrades the scheme will also help to ensure homes are healthy living environments, thermally comfortable, efficient and well-adapted to climate change- as well as drive carbon abatement that will support delivery of the UK’s Net Zero target and carbon budgets.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress her Department has made on agreeing a definition of community energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the important role that community energy can play in supporting local participation in the clean energy transition. For the purposes of the Local Power Plan, a Community Energy Group was defined as a local organisation that works to benefit its community through energy projects.
The Government has engaged with a range of stakeholders to work towards a definition of community energy. Further detail on this will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how her Department defines community energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the important role that community energy can play in supporting local participation in the clean energy transition. For the purposes of the Local Power Plan, a Community Energy Group was defined as a local organisation that works to benefit its community through energy projects.
The Government has engaged with a range of stakeholders to work towards a definition of community energy. Further detail on this will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department collects to assess the impact of the Warm Homes: Local Grant on child poverty and health outcomes.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The primary objective of the Warm Homes: Local Grant is to tackle fuel poverty in England- cutting energy bills for low-income households and areas of high economic deprivation through funding the installation of energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating. Through these upgrades the scheme will also help to ensure homes are healthy living environments, thermally comfortable, efficient and well-adapted to climate change- as well as drive carbon abatement that will support delivery of the UK’s Net Zero target and carbon budgets.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed of short-term measures to reduce emissions and improve climate resilience.
Answered by Katie White - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is committed to greater climate resilience and mitigation, and is investing £97m for the biggest upgrade of national resilience capabilities in nearly twenty years, including specialist equipment, dedicated off-road vehicles, enhanced incident management and wildfire training for firefighters.
This summer has been the hottest on record, and preparing for more extreme weather is part of building a more resilient country. That is why we have extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant to air-to-air heat pumps, which can cool as well as heat a home, we have made plug-in solar available across Great Britain, and we are investing significantly to upgrade the school estate.
Alongside this, our Energising Britain plan provides households with clear, accessible and impartial information about the everyday actions people can take to cut bills, reduce emissions, and protect the environment.
The Prime Minister also announced measures to support farmers in August, including up to £15m funding to build on-farm reservoirs, and temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management Agreements.