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 impact of not including (a) swimming pools and (b) other leisure services in the list of sectors eligible for support with energy bills under the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme on the financial viability of (i) charitable trust not-for-profit leisure and (ii) swimming pool providers.

During the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, analysis of many contributions from the private sector, trade associations, the voluntary sector and other types of organisations were assessed. These included leisure centres and swimming pools.

The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity, and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes.