Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Government decarbonisation support for medium-sized community buildings that are not classified as public sector bodies.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Eligible community buildings can access support through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which provides grants of up to £7,500 towards the installation of low‑carbon heating systems.
Landlords and tenants in this sector can search for local grant and advice schemes via the Government’s finance and support for businesses pages at: https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support. They can also access energy efficiency advice through the Government’s Business Energy Efficiency Campaign at: https://businessenergyefficiency.campaign.gov.uk/
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 to help improve the energy efficiency of homes in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The recently published Warm Homes Plan, backed by £15 billion, represents biggest investment in home upgrades ever. Households, including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, will be able to benefit from solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and insulation that can cut energy bills and improve energy efficiency.
The Warm Homes Plan makes an offer to every household, and we will reach up to 5 million homes by 2030, through direct support for those on low incomes and in fuel poverty, and innovative low-interest finance available to all. New energy efficiency standards in the private and social rented sectors will also lift around 650,000 households out of fuel poverty.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce annual increases in household energy bills in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Tackling the affordability crisis is Government’s number one priority. Energy bills remain too high – that is why we are acting to bring bills down now and for the long term. At the last Budget, we took an average of £150 of costs off energy bills from this coming April. On top of this around six million households will receive the £150 Warm Home Discount, after we expanded the scheme for this winter.
In addition, the Government’s Warm Homes Plan is the biggest investment in home upgrades ever, with £15 billion of investment to cut energy bills, bring households out of fuel poverty, increase our energy security and make our homes warmer and more efficient. The £15 billion total includes £5 billion directed towards low income and fuel poor households, helping to lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans his Department has to introduce targeted energy‑bill support for households with high energy consumption due to caring responsibilities.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The affordability crisis is the biggest issue facing this country, that is why the Autumn Budget acted to take an average £150 of costs off people’s energy bills. This support comes on top of the £150 off energy bills provided for around 6 million families under the Warm Home Discount this winter, cutting fuel poverty.
The Government is also driving forward with home upgrades, through the £15 billion Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of joining Euroclusters.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Euroclusters initiative is an online hub funded by the EU and targeted at industry stakeholders across Europe and globally. There are currently 145 UK organisations in the Euroclusters directory. UK companies and cluster organisations are free to make their own assessments of the benefits of joining the platform.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of unpaid carers living in fuel poverty.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has made no such estimate. The information requested is not held.
The Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty and recently published a new fuel poverty strategy for England outlining our plan to lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans his Department has to accelerate grid upgrades to support the connection of AI and data centre infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is implementing a comprehensive package to accelerate grid upgrades, addressing decades of underinvestment to deliver clean and affordable electricity and support timely grid connections. As announced in November, the Government will use powers taken in the Planning and Infrastructure Act to reserve and reallocate future capacity for strategic projects, including AI Growth Zones. All designated AI Growth Zones will benefit from dedicated optioneering support through the Connections Accelerator Service. Furthermore, we will develop plans alongside Ofgem to enable AI Growth Zones developers to build their own high voltage grid infrastructure.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate data centre and digital infrastructure access to renewable energy sources.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data centres can be located where there is surplus renewable power, so they can use that generation, helping to balance supply and demand and reducing network constraints. As part of the AI Growth Zone package, the proposed AI Growth Zone Energy Support Scheme will provide energy price discounts for data centres located in Scotland, North-East England and Cumbria, where they can help to reduce the overall costs of running the electricity system. This will incentivise location in regions where there is a surplus of renewable generation, maximising the use of this power by data centres and minimising use of gas.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to make changes to the (a) accreditation, (b) certification and (c) guarantee regime of (i) installers and (ii) retrofit coordinators working under (A) ECO4, (B) future Warm Homes Plan programmes and (C) other Government-funded retrofit schemes to prevent (1) rogue and (2) negligent firms participating.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is reviewing the system of consumer protection and oversight for home retrofit installations that improve energy efficiency and decarbonise homes. This work is looking at the entire landscape: from how installers work in people’s homes to where homeowners turn for rapid action and enforcement if things go wrong. More information will be shared in the forthcoming Warm Homes Plan.
The government is planning to consult on proposals for retrofit system reform early next year.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that homes which have received (a) insulation and (b) internal wall insulation under the ECO4 scheme are independently inspected any sub-standard or unsafe work is remediated at no cost to the homeowner, and that the homeowner is informed of their rights to redress.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is offering free inspections of all properties where external wall insulation was fitted under ECO4. Ofgem will contact every household with external wall insulation that has not yet been audited.
Remediation is already taking place to address substandard and unsafe work, and over half of the issues identified to date have been fixed. They will be rectified at no cost to the consumer.
Issues in external wall insulation are substantially higher than those for internal wall insulation. If customers have concerns about the quality of their internal wall insulation, they can contact their original installer or Ofgem’s dedicated helpline.