Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to (a) prevent and (b) regulate energy companies from forcibly installing prepayment meters in homes.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Prepayment meters (PPMs) allow customers to pay for energy on a pay-as-you-go basis and serve an important function by helping the avoidance of debt and court action. A ban on PPM switching as a last resort could lead to an increase in bailiff action. There are no plans to remove this option.
Ofgem has stringent rules on the force-fitting of PPMs and have recently published a letter where they outline steps they will be taking on tackling inappropriate supplier PPM practises including making sure suppliers are complying with those rules.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 is taking steps to ensure that people on pre-payment meters who have not yet redeemed their Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers will be able to do so.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government works with suppliers to communicate the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the importance of customers checking post, emails and text for prepayment meter vouchers and taking action to redeem them.
Suppliers have an obligation to make a minimum of three attempts by at least two different methods (post, email, text, special action message) to contact customers who have not redeemed their voucher. Vouchers are valid for 90 days. Replacement vouchers can be issued but all vouchers must be redeemed by 30 June 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in fuel poverty.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The latest official Fuel Poverty Statistics for England were published in February 2022 concerning 2020 data and projected estimates for 2021 and 2022, and can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2020-statistics.
Updated statistics of the number of households in fuel poverty for 2021 and projection estimates for 2022 and 2023 will be produced in the 2023 annual fuel poverty statistics.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of onshore wind farms developed in England since 2015.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since 2015 around 10 onshore wind projects totalling 30 MW have been consented for development in England. The Government is consulting on making changes to the National Policy Planning Framework in England so that local authorities can better respond to the views of their local communities when they wish to host onshore wind infrastructure.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his policy to maintain the Universal Service Obligation for Royal Mail.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government currently has no plans to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Taken together, the transitions set out in the Net Zero Strategy for every sector of the UK economy keep the UK on track for Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, its 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution, and ultimately for net zero by 2050.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will respond to the recommendations of the UK100 report End the Wait. Insulate, published in November 2022 on redeploying government investment in retrofit measures to prioritise a place-based approach to allocating funding.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Autumn Statement announced a new national ambition to reduce the UK’s final energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030 against 2021 levels.
In order to support the delivery of this target, a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce will be established. More details on the scope and membership of the Taskforce will be announced in due course.
In the Autumn Statement, the Government also announced £6 billion of new Government funding that will be made available from 2025 to 2028 for energy efficiency.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning an independent inquiry into the way cavity wall insulation complaints have been handled by the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency / Insulation Assurance Authority is a TrustMark scheme provider and is required to operate within TrustMark’s Framework Operating Requirements, which covers financial protection.
Any concerns regarding CIGA shared with the department have been investigated and followed up with CIGA where appropriate. However, the Government does not intervene in any relationship between insurance or guarantee providers and customers with cavity wall insulation.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 engage with regulators to ensure the necessary support for market development for investment in green industry.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to creating the required market conditions to mobilise investment into green industries. Many of the UK’s regulators will play a role in facilitating delivery of the infrastructure, technologies and activities that will deliver the net zero transition. In the the Net Zero Strategy, the Government set out several examples of how it is working with different regulators for example on the publication of the Strategic Policy Statement for Ofgem. The Government is working closely with regulators including FCA, the Bank of England, and IFRS to roll out climate-related disclosures, to provide confidence to businesses and investors on the risks and opportunities within UK green industries.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the first Ministerial meeting of the Local Net Zero Forum will take place.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A meeting between Ministers and local government leaders is expected to take place early in the new year.