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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households are not able to access the Warm Home Discount Scheme due to their energy supplier being exempt from the obligation to offer that discount to its customers.

Energy suppliers that are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme cover 94% of the market for domestic customers. Suppliers that are not obligated under the scheme can participate voluntarily. Last winter, three suppliers volunteered under the scheme. We estimate that the number of customers beyond those 18 suppliers that would have been automatically eligible for WHD last winter is roughly 60,000. There is a set spending envelope for WHD and increasing the number of obligated suppliers would not in itself increase the number of households receiving the rebate. We have recently completed a consultation on the next phase of WHD, including the obligation thresholds, and are currently reviewing the responses.