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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure older people are not restricted in the choice of options of heating their homes following the increase in fuel and energy costs.

The Default Tariff (Price) Cap currently protects around 22 million households by limiting the unit rate and standing charges that energy suppliers can charge customers on default or standard variable tariffs. Support is also available to eligible households through the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments.

Additionally, this Government will be providing a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, paid back automatically over the next 5 years, spreading the increased costs of global prices over time in a way that is more manageable for households. This is only one part of a wider package of measures to support households in 2022/23, including a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England, and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction. This support is available to customers irrespective of whether or not they are connected to the gas grid.