Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will set out the detailed allocation plan for the additional £1.5 billion funding for the Energy Company Obligation, including the timeline for disbursement and the criteria for prioritising households.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what measures are being introduced to protect and support small and medium-sized enterprises in the retrofit supply chain under the Energy Company Obligation and related schemes.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the proposed timeline is for the implementation of the Warm Homes Plan, and what steps are being taken to ensure collaboration with local authorities, industry stakeholders, and consumer groups in its delivery.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government remains committed to delivering the Warm Homes Plan which will be published soon. At the Autumn Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced an additional £1.5 billion of funding for the Warm Homes Plan, bringing total capital investment to almost £15 billion. This exceeds the manifesto commitment of £13.2 billion.
As part of the development of the Plan, this department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders through a variety of different fora to ensure a wide range of views are considered.
This includes working with local authorities and social housing providers, who in March last year were allocated £1.8 billion to install energy saving measures across the country through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Local Grant.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason the investment reserves for the (a) Mineworkers Pension Scheme and (b) British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme were not transferred to members at the same time.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The transfer of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme investment reserve was a manifesto commitment which the Government has fulfilled. The BCSSS scheme has some differences to the MPS, but we are working with the BCSSS Trustees to consider their proposals.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 transparency data entitled DESNZ ministerial travel, January to March 2023, published on 20 July 2023, what meetings took place during the visit to India by the then Secretary of State from 9 to 23 March 2023; and how much was spent on (a) overnight accommodation, (b) plane tickets and (c) other expenses.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The then Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero visited Mumbai and New Delhi from 19-22 March 2023. During the visit, he opened the new British International Investment office in Mumbai and met India’s Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh. He also met India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant. He held engagements with a range of representatives from businesses and the third sector, including green investors. The total cost of the Secretary of State’s flights and accommodation was £9,346.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, to which (a) businesses and (b) locations his Department provided funding through the Offshore wind manufacturing investment support scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Through the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme fund, SeAH Wind received £17 million to build an XXL monopile foundation manufacturing facility in Teesside; JDR Cable Systems received £14 million to build a subsea cable factory in Northumberland; Smulders received £7 million to enable the manufacture of transition pieces at their facility in Wallsend and South Tees Development Corporation received £20 million for work at the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent progress he has made on each project funded through the offshore wind manufacturing investment support scheme; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing private investment into those projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart
All projects funded through the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme are on track to meet the milestones agreed through the scheme. The grants for three manufacturing facilities, provided to SeAH Wind, JDR Cables and Smulders, are expected to leverage over £600 million of private investment.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department has allocated to (a) Port of Sunderland, (b) Teesport, (c) Port of Tyne, (d) Port of Blyth, (e) Port of Hull, (f) Port of Grimsby and (g) Port of Immingham through the offshore wind manufacturing investment support scheme since its introduction.
Answered by Graham Stuart
None of the listed ports received funding through the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme fund.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what funding has not been allocated from the 2021 offshore wind manufacturing investment.
Answered by Graham Stuart
£58 million of the £160 million Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme budget was committed.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much offshore investment has been allocated to firms in (a) Teesside Combined Mayoral Authority area, (b) North of Tyne Combined Mayoral Authority area and (c) Wales.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the Teesside Combined Mayoral Authority, grants from the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (OWMIS) fund totalling £37 million supported South Tees Development Corporation’s Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre and SeAH Wind’s monopile foundation facility. In the North of Tyne Combined Mayoral Authority, OMWIS fund grants totalling £21 million supported Smulders to enable the manufacture of transition pieces at their facility and JDR Cables to build a subsea cable factory. No OWMIS grants have been allocated to firms based in Wales.