Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Curran on 13 October (HL Deb col 115), what was meant by the statement "in comparison to the work of the last Government, the price of diesel has reduced by 11p per litre".
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
When the previous government left office in July 2024, the fiscal plans set out at Spring Budget 2024 would have increased fuel duty by 11p until today. This comprises the planned unwinding of the 5p cut on 1 April 2025, planned increases to fuel duty by inflation on 1 April 2025 and 1 April 2026 and the VAT charged on that additional duty.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the initial and recurring fees charged by Ofgem for registration of a heat network; and what assessment they have made of the potential effects on leaseholders and tenants in small blocks of flats.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem is not charging a fee for registration and will not charge any fees from authorised heat networks until 2028 at the earliest.
Ofgem is initially recovering the costs of heat network regulation through license fees paid by certain gas and electricity licensees. After this time, the cost of regulation will be spread across the gas, electricity and heat network sector.
In April Ofgem consulted on how they will recover the portion of regulatory costs falling on Heat Networks. This included proposals for smaller networks, how the proportion of fees for each organisation should be calculated and how often they should be collected. The link to the consultation can be found on Gov.UK and a response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they have issued, if any, to Right to Manage Companies which operate heat networks and are required to interact with the Energy Ombudsman, Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme, and Ofgem, particularly in relation to compliance with authorisation conditions under the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/269); and if they have not issued any such advice, whether they intend to do so.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Regulations will play a key role in ensuring consumers on a heat network receive the protections they need.
As the appointed regulator for heat networks, Ofgem is responsible for the oversight and enforcement of the new regulatory framework.
It has issued guidance to support those who own and operate heat networks, including on how to register with Ofgem and consumer protection rules and requirements set out in the authorisation conditions. The full list of guidance can be found on the Ofgem Heat Networks webpage.