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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount on households in receipt of disability benefits who were ineligible for the Warm Home Discount in winter 2022.

The Government has expanded and reformed the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales to target fuel poverty and provide most rebates automatically.

Households in receipt of means-tested benefits with high energy costs based on certain characteristics of their property are eligible for the rebate. Around 62% of Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance recipients receive a means-tested benefit; those with high energy costs are eligible. As a result of expanding and reforming the scheme, the Government estimates that 160,000 more households, where a person has a disability or long-term illness, will receive a rebate.

These changes do not apply in Scotland, where customers apply for a Broader Group rebate through their energy suppliers, who can set their own eligibility criteria.