Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government is planning to introduce a cap on the price per litre of heating oil for domestic heating.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has carefully considered the introduction of a price cap to help heating oil customers with high fuel prices. However, government analysis indicates that a cap would not be in the long-term interests of consumers.
The existing gas and electricity price cap was designed to protect consumers on default tariffs from the loyalty penalty, which the Competitions and Markets Authority warned was causing customers to be overcharged. The structure of the heating oil market is different and imposing a price cap below wholesale costs would drive companies out of the market, reducing competition and possibly result in supply shortages.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support people in rural areas who use heating oil as their primary heating method with the cost of living.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government understands that fuel prices are an important component of UK household and business expenditures and is sympathetic to the impact of domestic fuel costs on UK consumers.
The Government recently announced a £15 billion package to support households with the cost of living, in addition to the over £22 billion that had already been committed.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to amend the Weights and Measures Act to decrease the 500 litre minimum required for a delivery of heating oil.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
At present there are no plans to decrease the 500-litre minimum required for a delivery of heating oil.
For many years the industry standard for a minimum delivery of oil for efficiency reasons has been 500 litres, using mechanical meters calibrated and sealed by Trading Standards using tamper proof seals.
Whilst legislation allows the minimum delivery to be lower than 500 litres using electronic meters, any equipment must meet statutory requirements in terms of the accuracy of delivery, and type approval for the equipment must be obtained.
The vast majority of heating oil delivery vehicles are fitted with mechanical meters only.
The National Measurement and Regulation Office advise that smaller deliveries than the certified amount should not be made without the tankers meter being approved for smaller deliveries.
However due to the costs involved in making smaller deliveries and the reduction of productivity levels, the price per litre is likely to be proportionately much higher.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to introduce financial protection for consumers of heating oil equivalent to the existing energy price cap on gas and electricity.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels get a fair deal. There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as we believe this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. A price cap is not necessary as consumers can shop around and switch supplier more easily than for gas and electricity.
Customers who are not on the gas grid will be protected by the energy price cap if they are on a default tariff with their electricity supplier.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 increase the number of (a) air and (b) ground source heat pumps to help decrease dependency on heating oil.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is providing targeted funding to support the installation of heat pumps in off-gas grid buildings. This includes the £1.1bn Home Upgrade Grant, which will improve the worst performing low-income, off gas grid homes through energy efficiency and low carbon heat measures, and the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which will provide upfront grants to households and small businesses wishing to transition to low carbon heating, including buildings in off gas grid areas.
The Government has also consulted on proposals to end the installation of new fossil fuel heating in off-gas grid buildings, with a ‘heat pump first’ approach to replacement heating systems. We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the proposed Whitehaven coal mine.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Planning is a quasi-judicial process, and solely a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Ministers in BEIS have had no discussions with him on the proposed mine at Whitehaven.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 made of the implications for his policies of the International Energy Agency's findings that coal should be kept in the ground.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has committed to phasing out unabated coal generation in Great Britain by October 2024. Coal’s share of our electricity supply has already declined significantly in recent years – from almost 40% in 2012 to less than 2% in 2020.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 potential to use hydrogen in the production of steel.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy commits the Government to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking, Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), and electrification are some of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
Published in October, the Net Zero Strategy committed to provide further support for research and innovation to enable the fuel switch to low carbon hydrogen on industrial sites, such as integrated steelworks. This will be delivered through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and initiatives led by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 fund a clean steel demonstrator project.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government recognises the vital role that the sector plays across the UK to benefit our economy. We will continue to work with the sector to support its decarbonisation.
In March 2021, the Government published the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy in which we committed to working with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035 and the business environment necessary to support the transition. We will provide further information in due course.
Published in October, the Net Zero Strategy committed to provide further support for research and innovation to enable the fuel switch to low carbon hydrogen on industrial sites, such as integrated steelworks. This will be delivered through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and initiatives led by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the transition to renewable heating systems will have on (a) UK grid capacity and (b) the North West’s grid capacity.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we will need to decarbonise virtually all heat in buildings. Government analysis indicates that heat pumps are likely to play an important role in this transition, which is why my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister announced our ambition to reach 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028. In combination with an increase in electric vehicle deployment, this is likely to increase demand for electricity.
Ensuring the adequacy of the electricity network is the responsibility of electricity network companies, and they are incentivised to do so through the regulatory framework set out by Ofgem, the independent regulator. Electricity distribution network operators (DNOs) submitted their draft business plans for the next price control (RIIO ED2), which will run from 2023-28, on 1 July. Final draft business plans submissions are expected to be made by DNOs in December of this year. As part of this, DNOs, including Electricity North West who are the licensed operator for the distribution network in the North West, will include forecasts for the uptake of renewable heating systems and how they plan to ready the network for these technologies.
A new Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, developed jointly by BEIS and Ofgem, will be published shortly. The plan will set out how deploying low carbon technologies, including heat pumps, in a smart and flexible way can reduce the requirement for large increases in generation capacity and support the balancing of the electricity system. This approach benefits all electricity system users by reducing overall system costs and carbon emissions, while also supporting system stability.