Oral Answers to Questions

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Katie White]

Thank you for the clarification, Mr Speaker, and I thank the right hon. Member for his question. Everything we do has an environmental impact, but clearly we want to make sure that we minimise the environmental impact of any infrastructure that we build. I cannot comment on any individual planning application, as the right hon. Member will well know, but I take his wider point on looking to minimise, in all places, the environmental impacts of any of our clean energy infrastructure.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

12. Whether her Department is taking steps to implement a cold homes plan.

[The Minister for Climate Transition (Katie White)]

We all felt the impacts of climate change this summer, whether in our schools and classrooms or in our homes. The warm homes plan and the measures within it to ensure cooling as well as heating are available for the most vulnerable homes. In England and Wales, all eligible households can benefit from the expanded boiler upgrade scheme, which now includes air-to-air heat pumps that can heat and cool our homes.

[Sonia Kumar]

This summer, extreme heat was responsible for thousands of excess deaths across the United Kingdom. Though I commend the Department’s mission to tackle climate change and the root causes of extreme heat, does the Minister recognise that we must go faster and further in adapting and supporting households, especially vulnerable ones, with regard to extreme heat, and does she recognise that we need a cold homes plan across the country?

[Katie White]

I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent question. As we have mentioned a few times today, the intention to introduce some passive cooling measures, whether that be shading, shutters, reflective windows or cooler building materials, in the warm homes plan has already been announced. The delivery of the warm homes plan, which has been devolved to mayors, local government and communities, presents an opportunity to shape that in the most appropriate ways locally. We want to go faster to make sure that new homes are built to resilient standards. That is why we have committed to the net zero standards and why we are reviewing the overheating building regulations to ensure that our homes are fit for the future. I want to make sure that we build together heating and cooling options, so that we are thinking about the integration of climate mitigation and adaptation at the same time.