Dec. 19 2023
Source Page: Correspondence with employees of Energy Action Scotland: EIR releaseFound: Home Discount Scheme in Scotland being cited as the reason.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department has taken to ensure Warm Home Discount payments for winter 2022-23 were paid to customers by their energy provider by 31 March 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government identifies the majority of eligible households through data matching with energy suppliers. As a result, most eligible households are identified in late autumn, and provided with a rebate before and during winter. Further households are identified through the Warm Home Discount helpline, which is open over the winter. Although the Government encourages suppliers to make the payments as soon as possible, suppliers have until 31 March to provide the rebate.
In Scotland, households can apply to their supplier for a rebate under the Broader Group element of the scheme. The application processes and timings vary between suppliers.
Ofgem monitors suppliers’ compliance against their obligations.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to issue a substantive written response to the correspondence of 15 January 2024 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MCB2024/00632.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I wrote to the hon. Member on 1 March about the constituent’s eligibility for the Warm Home Discount scheme.
Apr. 05 2024
Source Page: Domestic consumers with non-domestic energy supply contracts: call for evidenceFound: The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides all businesses and non- domestic energy users with
Written Evidence Feb. 28 2024
Inquiry: Heating our homesFound: Home DIscount.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of fuel poverty since 2018.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Fuel Poverty is a devolved matter and the Department has responsibility for England.
The share of households in fuel poverty in England has reduced from 22% in 2010 to 13% in 2023, with energy efficiency being the key driver.
Other support includes the Warm Home Discount scheme which provides low-income and vulnerable households with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill, which it is estimated took 248,000 English households out of fuel poverty in 2023.
The department is currently reviewing the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and is engaging with key stakeholders as part of this process.
Written Evidence Feb. 08 2024
Inquiry: Energy bills for domestic customersFound: We have heard some rumours of proposals being developed for a “tiered Warm Homes Discount.”
Mentions:
1: Amanda Solloway (Con - Derby North) home discount scheme and cost of living payments. - Speech Link
2: Marion Fellows (SNP - Motherwell and Wishaw) After April, the only support available will be the £150 warm home discount, which has barely been increased - Speech Link
3: Amanda Solloway (Con - Derby North) We also have the warm home discount, the winter fuel payment and the disability cost of living payment - Speech Link
4: Amanda Solloway (Con - Derby North) We expect the warm home discount to support around 3 million households this winter, with the final figures - Speech Link
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to support those who live off-grid and rely on (a) oil and (b) liquified petroleum gas to heat their homes.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Last winter, the Government provided a £200 support payment to those households who use alternative fuels through the Alternative Fuel Payment. Since then, prices of such fuels have decreased significantly, and consequently the Government does not intend to repeat the scheme this winter.
The Government is continuing to support those who need it the most, with millions of households receiving up to £900 in further cost of living payments. This is in addition to established support for vulnerable and low-income households through the Winter Fuel Payment worth £250 - £600 and the £150 Warm Home Discount, which has been extended to reach around a million more people compared with the previous scheme prior to winter 2022.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Warm Home Discount payments are being passed on to customers by energy providers.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government sets the annual spending envelope and, under the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales, identifies eligible households through data matching with participating energy suppliers.
The Government sends ‘instructions to pay’ to energy suppliers to provide payments to these customers. Energy suppliers are legally required to provide the rebates to those customers, or provide a reason why they cannot, once they have received an instruction to pay. Ofgem monitors suppliers’ compliance against their obligation.