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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information he holds on local authority spending plans to reduce fuel poverty over the next (a) five and 10 years.

The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) requires local authorities to prepare and publish reports every two years on their plans to achieve improved energy efficiency in their areas. These are not spending plans, but contain actions, policies, initiatives, grants, match funding and other measures offered in the local authority that encourage home energy efficiency improvements and tackle fuel poverty. Local authorities were last required to report in 2017, and their full reports are available on their websites. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be issuing guidance to local authorities on the content of their 2019 reports shortly.

Under the Energy Company Obligation local authorities are able to refer low income and vulnerable households for receipt of energy efficiency measures under ‘flexible eligibility’. Obligated energy suppliers can deliver up to 25% of their obligation by installing measures under this mechanism, which could be worth around £560m between now and March 2022.