Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the support provided by (a) his Department and (b) energy suppliers for people with chronic ill health for the cost of energy.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes the only way to protect consumers permanently is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
The Warm Home Discount provides a £150 rebate off winter energy bills for eligible low-income households. On 25 February, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The Warm Home Discount regulations expire in 2026, and we will want to consider all options for future bill support beyond this point.
We continue to monitor energy prices and the price cap and are working to ensure bills are affordable for consumers in the long-term, including through our work with Ofgem to reform standing charges, and through our Warm Homes Plan which will upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the support provided by (a) his Department and (b) energy suppliers for vulnerable households for the cost of energy.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes the only way to protect consumers permanently is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
The Warm Home Discount provides a £150 rebate off winter energy bills for eligible low-income households. On 25 February, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The Warm Home Discount regulations expire in 2026, and we will want to consider all options for future bill support beyond this point.
We continue to monitor energy prices and the price cap and are working to ensure bills are affordable for consumers in the long-term, including through our work with Ofgem to reform standing charges, and through our Warm Homes Plan which will upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish a timeline for making heat networks subject to the energy price cap.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat network suppliers commercially contract for the fuel that powers heat networks and so they are not subject to the domestic energy price cap.
The Government is however, introducing heat network regulation in January 2026 which aims to provide consumers with comparable protections to existing gas and electricity regulations.
The heat network regulator, Ofgem, will have powers to investigate and intervene where heat network prices charged to consumers appear to be disproportionate or unfair.
Regulatory oversight will be supplemented by statutory redress through the Energy Ombudsman who will have the same powers to hear complaints and make legally binding decisions as they do in gas and electricity markets.