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 plans to make funding available for the delivery of the Government’s clean growth strategy to homes and businesses unconnected to the gas grid in North Cornwall constituency.

Funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) of £4.5 billion has been agreed to support low carbon heat technologies in homes and businesses, on and off the gas grid, between 2016 and 2021. Over the scheme lifetime, we expect payments to be around £23bn.

As at the end of December 2017, 1985 domestic and 370 non-domestic installations have been accredited within Cornwall. The Department does not hold data specifically for North Cornwall.

Beyond the RHI, our ambition is to help homes off the gas grid to start to move to cleaner heating options during the 2020s. We will work with consumers as we develop policy, starting with new build, and will consult further on policy options during 2018.

A key focus of our policy development will be the cost difference between low and high carbon technologies. We are investing £10 million in an innovation challenge fund to support low carbon heating systems, which will help drive down costs.

Alongside Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments, policies such as the Warm Home Discount and Energy Company Obligation deliver vital support to millions of low income and vulnerable homes each year with heating and insulation measures as well as direct reductions in their energy bills. As set out in the Autumn Statement, a domestic supplier obligation with a value of £640m, will continue to be in place until 2022.