Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to provide financial support to people who were previously eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme and are no longer eligible following changes in eligibility criteria.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has expanded and reformed the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales to target fuel poverty better, provide the majority of the rebates automatically, and standardise the eligibility across all participating energy suppliers. Over 3 million households will receive a rebate this winter.
Energy suppliers can provide additional support to households through the Industry Initiatives portion of the scheme, through measures such as financial assistance, debt write-off, benefit entitlement checks, energy advice, and energy efficiency.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support households (a) with a low income, (b) in listed buildings, (c) in long term rentals and (d) in short term holiday lets in rural communities to improve the insulation of their homes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has allocated £3.2 billion in this Parliament to improve home energy efficiency. The Government's approach to supporting fuel poor households was set out in the fuel poverty strategy, Sustainable Warmth, in February 2021.
The cost-of-living crisis gives even greater urgency for action to make homes more energy efficient and reduce energy bills. Through the Governments ‘Help to Heat’ capital schemes, domestic consumers could potentially save between £300and £700 per annum, based on the current price cap.
Work is ongoing to meet the commitment in the British Energy Security Strategy to review the planning barriers households face when installing energy efficiency measures in conservation areas and listed buildings.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the energy efficiency of homes in Nottingham East constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government remains committed to improving the energy performance of homes and reducing Fuel Poverty across the country, including in Nottingham East. Therefore the Government is investing £12 billion in Help to Heat schemes to make sure homes are warmer and cheaper to heat.
This investment will benefit tens of thousands of households and deliver savings between £300 and £700 a year on average on their energy bills, based on the recent price cap announcement.
Help to Heat covers the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Local Authority Delivery Scheme, Home Upgrade Grant, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, and the Energy Company Obligation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 reduce the numbers of children in fuel poverty.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to supporting vulnerable households, including those with young children, through policies to tackle fuel poverty.
This winter the Government is providing direct support to millions of households through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme. This is in addition to the Cost of Living Support Package, which is targeted particularly on those with the greatest need.
The Government is also helping households, including families with children, to reduce energy costs in the long term by improving the energy efficiency of homes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to revise levelling up funding commitments in the context of rising inflation.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
My department is monitoring the situation closely through formal reporting mechanisms and on the ground relationships, allowing us to understand the impact of cost inflation and respond accordingly. We have put in place proportionate project adjustment processes on our two biggest live programmes, the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund.
This means that where projects need to re-scope or make adjustments to phasing in response to rising costs, we can review and where appropriate agree those quickly, whilst ensuring value for money. Places receiving Town Deals also have greater flexibility to agree necessary adjustments to projects locally
UK Shared Prosperity Fund's delegated delivery model and light touch change control process enables local authorities to adjust their plan to react to local need. Local authorities can also use their allocation to fund community measures to reduce the cost of living, including measures to improve energy efficiency and combat fuel poverty.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason electric room heaters are considered less efficient than radiators powered by an oil boiler for the purposes of an Energy Performance Certificate, given that electric heaters can be powered by renewable energy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) use an Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) to score the energy performance of buildings based on their estimated running costs. Since energy costs can be a significant outlay, it is important that homeowners and occupiers are aware of the potential running costs of their building.
Given the higher cost of electricity relative to oil, the presence of an electric radiator may result in a low EER without added measures to reduce energy demand, such as insulation. The metrics on the EPC are kept under review as the Government develop policy to simultaneously tackle fuel poverty and decarbonise buildings.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the role of energy efficiency in meeting the UK’s climate targets.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes that improving insulation measures in homes is one of the best long-term solutions for reducing household energy costs and fuel poverty. Improving insulation across the UK’s housing stock also aligns with commitments to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Government has committed £6.6 billon across the lifetime of this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to (a) the commitment on page 7 of his Department’s fuel poverty strategy Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England, published on 11 February 2021 and (b) his answer to the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on Tuesday 7 June 2022, Official Report, column 654, whether his Department is on track to deliver on the £2.5 billion Home Upgrade Grant by the end of 2019 Parliament.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government spending reviews have, to date, committed around £6.6bn to decarbonising heat and buildings during the lifetime of this Parliament.
Of this, HM Treasury has allocated £1.1bn to the Home Upgrade Grant, for delivery to 2025. £500m of this money – which is providing energy-efficiency upgrades to lower-income, energy-inefficient homes - has already been granted to local authorities as part of the Sustainable Warmth competition. The Government will continue to work with local authorities to reach as many households as possible.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take further steps to support households at risk of fuel poverty.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises that millions of households across the UK have been impacted by rising energy bills and the wider cost of living. That is why the Government is providing over £15 billion in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22 billion announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37 billion this year. The package includes:
The Government has also expanded and increased the Warm Home Discount. Three million vulnerable households will now receive £150 each year. The Government’s objective for the Warm Home Discount is to focus the support towards those on the lowest incomes and in, or at greatest risk of, fuel poverty.
The Government has robust plans in place to improve the efficiency of peoples’ homes. The Heat and Buildings Strategy, published in October, detailed the £3.9 billion committed over the Spending Review period to improve the energy efficiency of our building stock and help to reduce bills.
We are also expanding the Energy Company Obligation, which places an obligation on larger energy suppliers to provide energy efficiency and heating measures for fuel poor households across Great Britain, to £1 billion per year from 2022-2026. This will help 133,000 low-income households annually to improve their energy efficiency.
The Government will continue to monitor how global events affect energy bills and the cost of living into the winter.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on making Wales an international leader in building (a) sustainable, (b) net-zero and (c) hempcrete buildings and homes.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Although housing is devolved in Wales, officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have regular discussions with counterparts in the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government to discuss modern methods of construction.
Furthermore, as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal, the UK Government is supporting the ‘Homes as Power Stations’ project, a pioneering project looking to integrate energy efficiency design and renewable technologies into the development of new build homes and retrofit programmes carried out by the public, private and third sectors. This will tackle fuel poverty while helping residents save money on their energy bills. The project aims to facilitate the take up of renewable technologies in at least 10,300 properties within five years.