Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of fuel poverty in rural areas on the decarbonisation of off gas grid properties.

Fuel poverty is a devolved matter; in England, 18.2% of homes off the gas grid are in fuel poverty, compared to 12.7% on the gas grid (as of 2019). The next fuel poverty statistics are due to be published later this month. The report will include data for 2020 on the number of households living in fuel poverty in England and analysis of the composition of fuel poor households, as well as projections of the number of households in fuel poverty in 2021 and 2022.